


Of Crop Circles and Sakura Trees

by Fandomgeekery



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Aliens, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, America's name is Albany, Coffee Shops, Crack Treated Seriously, Fantasy, Gender What Gender, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Government Conspiracy, Japan's name is Kiku, Let's Play: Is This Third Person Singular or Plural 'They'?, Magic, Nonbinary Character, Nymphs & Dryads, Other, Science Fiction, This just gets increasingly convoluted as we go but it's alright, Tree x alien, Violence, What Was I Thinking?, Wizards, ameripan - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2018-09-05
Packaged: 2018-09-14 00:36:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 54,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9148930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fandomgeekery/pseuds/Fandomgeekery
Summary: Kiku is a wood nymph who accidentally got a job at a coffee shop. Albany is an alien who cram-studied Earth customs before visiting for a college course. What could go wrong?





	1. Chapter 1

It was a beautiful, sunny day. The sun’s rays shone warmly on the leaves of the sakura tree that stretched up lazily, sleepily towards the sky. The sun was truly wonderful, Kiku had always thought. The ecosystems of the forest were alive and vibrant, the sakura tree playing an ever-useful part.

Roots curled contently into the cool earth below.

Life was peaceful for a tree.

A marvelous thing that Kiku  _ was _ a tree. Kiku thought it was marvelous, anyway. Life was slow in the forest. Life was safe in the forest. Life was quiet. Isolated. Secluded bliss. Daily, the sun rose to give life to all around. Seasonally, it was warm. Seasonally, there were flowers. Those were the best times, Kiku thought—the springtimes. Kiku had been through many and they always eagerly awaited the time when the Sun would melt the frost from the ground and the ice from the branches. It felt like reawakening from a wintertime almost-hibernation.

Winters were sleepy, tired, and cold. The sun was far and the rays were not warm. The branches were bare. There were no blossoms.

It was summertime, Kiku gave a moment of thought to. They were used to this form—the sakura tree. They preferred it to the humanoid form. The humanoid form was trickier to operate and demanded attention at a significantly faster pace. Being a tree was nice. Nobody expected anything from a tree.

It must have been years since the wood nymph-- some preferred the term dryad-- had taken a humanoid form. Season after season blended seamlessly and beautifully. Why keep track? The world would have changed without their noticing, but they did not  _ really _ mind. The change of the world of the humans was just that—a whole different world to Kiku. It was also one that was tedious to mingle in…

Yet, they were beginning to forget what it felt like to stretch limbs that were not wooden branches.

They had not exactly given it much thought in… well, what must have been years. Why now? What about  _ now _ made the world of humans an intriguing thought? It wasn’t. The world of humans was messy and annoying. Kiku merely wanted, perhaps, a quick walk. They had always enjoyed the human invention of tea…

It felt like simply stepping outside. It was a quick, smooth move from one perspective—that of a sakura tree—to another—their humanoid form. Eyes were nice. Sight, sound, touch, taste, and hearing were nice. Would Kiku give up life as a tree in exchange for these things? Absolutely not. Senses were nice, but senses were most certainly not worth being forced to interact with  _ people _ .

Kiku looked around. They stared. They gawked, as a matter of fact.

Wow. It would seem a lot had changed.

Kiku’s sakura tree was the only tree left standing in the forest, for example. Their home and life force sat, aesthetically pleasing but out of place, in a poorly designed dog park. Well, alright then. They updated their point of view from residing in a scenic, dense forest to being located a few feet from a poop bag dispenser. That was one of the downsides of being a tree. One doesn’t really have too much awareness of anything a tree wouldn’t have awareness of… If most trees had awareness...

Tea. They would like to have some tea. 

Kiku nodded politely at the small poodle that was barking at them, likely because they had just recently stepped out of the trunk of the tree the fluffy thing had been about to do its business upon.

They did not have to look far. It would seem that a thriving city neighborhood had taken shape since they had isolated themself. It had been a while. There was a quaint shop labeled as a cafe a little ways down a paved street that they did not remember being located there. They walked into it, following the smell of warm beverages and small pastries. 

A small bell tinkled to announce their arrival. They looked around. The shop was not empty, but it was not densely populated either. A few humans looked up as they entered the store, a visceral reaction to the noise of the bell. Those few humans then proceeded to do a double-take to look at them once more. Humans looked different than Kiku remembered. Humans were still the same basic shape, of course, but other than that… Not much was congruent with Kiku’s previous memories of the species. It had been a while. Kiku did not pay it much mind. They were there for a walk and for tea. This update on their place in the world was nice, but this humanoid form was already becoming tedious to maneuver through human society.

There was a counter behind which the food and beverages were prepared and in front of which some humans had gathered, seemingly waiting in turn to speak to a loud human afflicted with albinism. Kiku personally had no desire to wait to speak with the loud human; they only wanted tea. In fact, they could see the ingredients for the tea they wished to prepare behind the counter with the very white human. 

The white human seemed to be occupied with preparing food and beverages and speaking with those who were waiting to speak with him, so Kiku presumed that they would not have to make any conversational fuss about maneuvering around this human to make themself their desired warm beverage. 

Kiku had not lost their skill with tea making. With flourishes more becoming of an entertainer than a tea-enjoying dryad, they mixed together a lovely, lightly spiced cup of tea. Kiku then realized they were getting some confused stares. The person behind the counter had turned around to stare at them and their tea, abashed. The people in the line stared at them and their tea, uncomprehending. 

“W-What are you doing?” asked the man behind the counter with Kiku, more flabbergasted than upset. 

“I am making tea,” Kiku replied, their voice croaking a little from disuse. 

“Why…?” was the next question asked. Kiku tilted their head, the silent question of  _ why does one normally make tea? _ Hanging between the two. “That’s not how this… works?  _ I _ make the tea.  _ You _ pay for the tea and then take the tea. You can’t just… do that?”

“I did, so therefore I can,” Kiku informed him. 

“Look, that was really cool, but you can’t just cut everyone in the line--” the man started, but was then cut off by the person next in line. 

“Hey! Can you give me my tea already?! What’s the holdup?!” The person snapped angrily, not having heard any of Kiku and the man’s exchange due to being so focused on the tea that was radiating warmth into Kiku’s palm. Then, the man took the tea from Kiku’s hand before Kiku could say anything, apologizing for the wait and wishing the human a nice day. 

The person who now had Kiku’s tea sipped at the beverage, but stopped mid-drink. “Is something wrong?” asked the pale man behind the counter. The person was staring at the tea in fascination. 

“This… This is the best tea I’ve ever had in my life…”

“Really…?” the man asked in surprise, turning to look at Kiku. 

“Yes! Give that hippie a raise! I’m coming back everyday for the rest of my life and telling every person I meet!” the person then left the building. 

The man behind the counter looked long and hard at Kiku, who was considering making another tea, but did not want to displease the man again. “So… What’s your name?” Kiku was asked. 

“Kiku.”

“Cool. I’m Gilbert Beilschmidt. So, Kiku…” Gilbert Beilschmidt said conversationally. “How did you make that tea?”

“I used the boiled water and other ingredients.”

“Which ingredients?”

“The ones that would make the tea taste the best,” Kiku told him with a shrug. 

“Why are you dressed like a hippie, Kiku?” was Gilbert Beilschmidt’s next question. Kiku looked down at their attire, which was considered very groovy and popular with the dominant counterculture of the era last time they were not a tree.

“Why are you not? It was considered very distasteful to give in to the will of the overwhelming systems of oppression when this getup was regularly worn; I think the message remains a positive one no matter how the times have changed,” Kiku decided sagely. Gilbert Beilschmidt stared at them for a long moment. 

“So you’re bringing back tree-hugger culture or something?”

“I am a tree.” Gilbert Beilschmidt laughed as if Kiku had told an amusing joke. 

“We like peace and are very anti-oppression around here too!” Gilbert Beilschmidt explained, still conversationally. Kiku was beginning to regret not being a tree at that exact moment in time. Conversation with humans was often tedious and often expected to last a mind-numbing amount of time and, Kiku remembered, it was not particularly polite to turn and leave in the middle of it no matter how much one wanted to do so. Kiku wanted to do so. “We’re actually an LGBTQ+ friendly cafe! We’re constantly serving people who fight oppression in daily life!” Gilbert Beilschmidt exclaimed proudly, as if this information was relevant to Kiku who did not recognize the acronym being thrown at them. Kiku only wanted their tea. “So! I guess, um… Do you have preferred pronouns? How would you identify your gender?” Gilbert Beilschmidt asked. 

“I am a tree,” Kiku said slowly because this information must not have registered with the human. Gilbert Beilschmidt laughed good-naturedly and nodded, waving them off. 

“Alright, alright! I get sarcastic answers like that from nonbinary people all the time. It’s totally okay to be trans here! We actually have these neat little buttons where you can write your preferred pronouns! We give them out for free if you work here…” Gilbert Beilschmidt gestured excitably to a button pinned to his shirt that read ‘he/him/his/himself’. “So speaking of which… That tea…” Kiku perked up at the word ‘tea’.  _ Tea _ . Yes. That was all Kiku wanted from this encounter. “We could really use people that make tea that well around here… Would you be interested in a job maybe? You get free tea?”

Tea.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Kiku received their tea. Kiku also received an apron, a name tag boasting their name, and a little button reading ‘they/them/their/themself’. Kiku had a job. Kiku was not sure how to deal with this due to the fact that people were now lining up in front of the counter to speak with  _ them _ . It was strange. However, the encounters typically went without a hitch. The people told them which drink to prepare, and they prepared it for the customer. The customers were always unusually surprised that they could prepare a tasty beverage. Gilbert Beilschmidt seemed overjoyed. The line only seemed to get longer. 

Kiku had all of the tea they could wish for, but they wished for nothing more than to get back to their tree and stay there for perhaps another decade. This one did not seem incredibly fun, judging by the news that Gilbert Beilschmidt left playing on the small television. This decade was so dismal and full of people wanting to kill other people. Not much had changed, of course. Humans had always been awful. Now, though, media offered a constant reminder of just how horrible humans were. Media and television had changed quite a bit since Kiku had last been around these parts. 

The news spoke of murder. The news spoke of natural disaster. The news spoke of strange lights overhead causing panic that a government spokesperson was trying to soothe. The news spoke of a lost dog being returned to its family. The news showed a memorial for another, previous massacre aside from the aforementioned one(s). 

The line got shorter. Then people were gone. Gilbert ushered Kiku outside, jabbering excitedly about how awesome his decision to hire them was and about how Kiku was a culinary genius.  Gilbert Beilschmidt closed up the cafe, locking the door behind him and Kiku. “So where do you live, Kiku? Do you need a ride or anything to work tomorrow…?” Kiku blinked at him. Tomorrow? They were expected back  _ tomorrow _ ?

“I live close by. There will be no need for assistance.” Gilbert laughed and then proceeded to raise his hand in the air and wait expectantly. Kiku stared at him, still unsure on how to politely excuse themself from making this ‘job’ nonsense a habitual occurrence. It was simply much more human interaction than they were comfortable with. Gilbert slowly lowered his hand awkwardly. 

“Okay, awesome!” he exclaimed, loudly. He exclaimed many things loudly. “See you tomorrow then!” Kiku held up a finger to possibly gently reschedule that thought to, say, a decade later, but then Gilbert Beilschmidt was walking the other direction. 

Kiku simply could not be impolite about this. Humans did not take kindly to  _ rudeness _ . 

Kiku trudged back to their tree, resigned to arriving to work tomorrow. They stepped in dog poop on the way. The strange lights overhead that the news had mentioned glowed and blinked. A stray policewoman yelled at them, running toward them, saying something about how no one was allowed in the dog park after hours. She simply did not understand, so Kiku did not hold it against her. Kiku had lived there longer than the dog park had existed, so they had more right to be there than the dog park. Kiku simply disappeared into their tree, leaving a surely baffled policewoman to wonder where they had gone. They welcomed the lack of human senses. It was simply too much input. Being a tree was nicer.  


	3. Chapter 3

“So you’re telling me that you don’t have…  _ any _ other clothes besides the hippie costume?” Gilbert Beilschmidt asked. Kiku had, in fact, said that quite clearly. They were not sure of the issue. “And this is your only job?” Kiku had also said that. Humans enjoyed being redundant. “You’re not homeless? Where do you live?”

“I live in a tree.”

“A… treehouse?”

“Of sorts. It is in the dog park.”

“I’ve never seen a treehouse in the dog park… How do they allow that?”

“The policewoman last night was not too pleased with me returning to my home, but it is where I live, so it did not matter,” Kiku told him. Gilbert Beilschmidt stared at them for a long while. Kiku made a customer a coffee. The customer then walked off, speaking of the glowing lights Kiku had seen last night with his friend. 

“Hey, I know I’m only offering minimum wage here, but like… If you need some help--”

“Oh, no, I quite like where I live. Financial compensation is not necessary for this,” Kiku gestured helpfully to the beverage-making stations behind the counter. Humans appreciated helpful gestures. Gilbert Beilschmidt laughed nervously. 

“That’s… Illegal, so…” he trailed off. He opened his mouth to say something else, but then the door of the coffee shop slammed open with quite a loud noise. Everyone looked up at the tall, blond person standing in the doorway. The customer looked around nervously at all the eyes and smiled brightly, putting up some finger guns at all of the cafe-goers before walking stiffly around the cafe, inspecting their whereabouts. 

Gilbert Beilschmidt was asked to give another customer directions, so he stepped outside momentarily to point the customer in the correct way. 

The blond human marched purposefully up to the counter after the quick sweep around the cafe. “Hey, dude!” the customer practically yelled in greeting. 

“Hello,” Kiku said, at a more reasonable volume. The two stared at each other for a moment. This was not a typical customer interaction. The customer had not yet asked for a beverage. The customer had very bright blue eyes that sparkled in a way that was aesthetically pleasing even for a tree. 

“Wooooah. So, you’re like... Totally not human. You know that right?” the customer informed them in what may have been intended to be secretive, but was in all actuality a stage whisper that every other customer heard. 

“Yes, I am aware. I am a tree. A wood nymph. A dryad. It is called by many names. Would you care for a beverage?”

“Dude! That’s totally sweet!  _ I’m _ not human  _ either _ !” 

“Are you also a tree?” The customer did not look like a tree, but in their current state, Kiku supposed, neither did Kiku. 

“No.” The customer leaned over the counter and said in their best ‘secretive’ voice. “I’m an alien. From about a couple thousand, uh, light-years…? Is that what you measure in? Yeah. A couple thousand of those. I’m from around there. But I’m not allowed to tell anybody that. But you’re not human. Ha. Loophole!” Kiku nodded understandingly. 

“Ah, I see. Were the strange lights that have been occurring recently caused by you?” The customer grinned widely, showing off a magnificent smile that would have been a perfect addition to a Hollywood film. 

“L-O-L! Probably! But your guys’ machines suck so there’s no way you guys know that for sure. So I’m good! I may get a few points off my grade for the lights being noticed on the ground, though.” At Kiku’s confused look, the customer explained further. “I’m here on a college-sponsored trip to learn about alien societies. It’s pretty great. But I totally cram-studied so I may be in for a world of hurt, but it’s gonna be super cool!” The customer was very excited to announce this. The customer was also receiving many strange looks from the  _ other _ customers in the cafe. 

Gilbert returned. “Is everything alright?” the albino human asked, looking at the held up line growing behind the alien. 

“Presumably,” Kiku said to Gilbert. The alien smiled and waved at Gilbert. A very… pleasant smile… to match very…  _ nice _ eyes… and other…  _ attractive _ facial features. Attractive was a very strange concept for a tree to pinpoint, but Kiku knew in that moment that  _ attractive _ described the alien. In fact, Kiku was beginning to think ‘attractive’ would be understating the aesthetic appeal of the blond before them. 

Kiku’s palms were beginning to become sweaty, they noticed. Very strange. 

The alien and the wood nymph stared at each other some more. It was an enjoyable bubble of space and quiet and non-humanness between them. Then, the human had to wreck that. “Uh… Kiku? Are you helping…” Gilbert stopped himself before he used any pronouns, finding himself uncertain. “Are you helping this customer?” The alien’s eyes went wide in realization. 

“Oh! Oh! You want, um, you want an order from me, right? Most customers order something. Oh! And also a gender, right? Most humans have a gender.” The alien laughed nervously and threw up some placating finger guns. “Well don’t you worry! Because I definitely have both of those! Your average everyday human customer definitely has both of those human and customer concepts! You betcha!” The alien looked around frantically. Kiku helpfully looked towards the menu. The alien followed their gaze. “Coffee! A coffee! Yup! That’s what I want!” Kiku nodded and began preparing the coffee with no further specifications. Gilbert watched the alien with some concern on his face. 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked. The alien nodded, still frantically looking around for an answer about gender. Gilbert, not as stupid as most humans seem, appeared to vaguely understand on a completely clueless note. “We… We have buttons? Buttons with pronouns? If you want…?” he offered. The alien dove for the small basket the man had mentioned. 

Kiku placed a coffee on the counter. The alien slammed a pastel button down next to it with some satisfaction at successfully doing a human thing. “‘Ze/zir/zem/zemself’?” Gilbert wanted to confirm. 

“Yeah, sure! Sounds… like a thing!” the alien announced proudly. Gilbert nodded and shrugged. He then offered zem a total. Ze slammed down a wad of money. Gilbert carefully dealt back an appropriate amount of change, which mostly consisted of giving most of it back and only taking  _ one _ of the 100 dollar bills. Kiku wasn’t particularly good with human money, but they  _ did _ know that that was a bit much for coffee. 

The alien grinned once more at Kiku as Gilbert gave zem zir change. “My name is Albany! You know, like the capitol of New York!” ze said, still almost shouting. Ze gave Kiku a stealthy wink to indicate that ze was an alien and that was a human name. “Albany F. Jones!” Ze tugged a flower out of zir pocket, shoving it into Kiku’s hand. Kiku assumed that this was intended to be an introductory greeting and that zir cram-studying had managed to overlook shaking hands. They were flattered nonetheless. They also preferred it to the act of touching someone’s hand, so they hoped the other customers took note of the preferable alternative. “We should totally talk sometime, Kiku!” Ze decided by exclaiming it to the world. Kiku nodded in agreement, their legs feeling strangely like they may not hold them much longer. Perhaps the flower was poisonous? Kiku wasn’t sure that that was the reason. Perhaps some sort of alien power of charming. 

The alien, Albany, then proceeded to sprint out of the store with zir coffee and button. Of course, the sprinting aspect leading to coffee splashes being left in zir wake. Gilbert groaned, leaving Kiku to go clean it. Kiku was left alone, unable to pay much attention to the unhappy line of customers that were still waiting to be served. They were instead staring at the small, crumpled flower in their hands with the possibility of seeing the strangely charming alien again ringing in their head. 


	4. Chapter 4

Admittedly, Kiku was more than a little distracted for the rest of the day. It was bad enough that Gilbert had to chastise them because the line was getting held up and they’d just given a customer who had asked for tea, a coffee. 

Perhaps they were spending too much time in humanoid form. Trees were not bothered by such emotions. Trees were not distracted. Trees hardly needed to focus. Trees did not have to make warm beverages for customers. 

Trees did not spend such time thinking about a chance encounter with someone who was so delightfully inhuman. The human race was an exhausting lot, but this person was an alien. Granted, an alien that was loud and exhausting as ze pretended to  _ be _ a human. Or, perhaps, that was simply zir personality in general. Kiku was not sure. Kiku should not care, honestly. 

Kiku didn’t have much experience in dealing with  _ emotions _ , but they had to admit they were curious about Albany F. Jones. 

Curiosity. That was all these emotions were, Kiku was almost positive. Kiku and Albany may talk again like Albany had suggested earlier and then Kiku was sure that all of these emotions would be gone. 

They were sure of it. 

Gilbert Beilschmidt snapped them out of their reverie. “Hey, Kiku. The cafe will be closed tomorrow, so you don’t have to come in, alright?” he said. Kiku stared at him for a long moment, letting the implications of this knowledge sink in before he nodded slowly. “But hey it’s the end of the week! I can give you your first paycheck! It won’t be much because you haven’t worked here at my awesome coffee shop for a full week yet, but… Maybe you can use it to grab something somewhere cheap that’s…  _ not _ a hippie costume?” 

“I… Can see what I can do…?” Kiku decided, mentally crossing off their plans to spend a longer period as a tree than merely nighttime. 

 

Kiku made an  _ effort _ . They really did. However, after a few clothing stores and not being sure what their size was and after being told that they did not have enough money and being questioned on why they would come into a designer store in the first place, Kiku was done with the human race for the time being. Kiku returned to their tree, ignoring the dogs and stepping around the piles of canine excrement. 

The sun was shining. All of the photosynthesizing processes were going swell. The ground was still mineral-rich in places that the roots reached. Things were great for a tree. The only thing that could make it better would be a nice, light rain… 

It must have not been more than an hour’s worth of time that Kiku spent living it up as a tree before… they sensed something. Strange? Wrong? Harmful? Kiku wasn’t sure because, at the time, they were a tree. Trees didn’t sense much. But this… was something that they had never sensed and had previously not been aware that they had the  _ ability _ to sense. You know, being a literal tree and all. 

Kiku stepped out of the tree. Humanoid once more. 

“WASSUP, KIKU? CAN OTHER TREES HEAR PEOPLE SHOUTING AT THEM?”

“Trees cannot hear, but trees have other senses that humans lack,” Kiku explained, not sure how they were feel at seeing Albany F. Jones again. Their heartrate was a bit higher than normal, as if they had been startled. Blood was filling the tissues in their cheeks to make them red, as if they were embarrassed or shy. They found that their palms were sweaty as they clasped them behind their back. They found that maintaining eye contact with the alien’s giddy gaze was difficult, as if Albany would find out how they were feeling about zem. Flustered, perhaps? Was Kiku flustered by Albany F. Jones? 

“That’s so totally awesome, dude!”

“Yes.” The two stood there for a moment, staring at each other in a way that most humans would consider uncomfortable. “Why are you here?” Kiku asked zem. 

“Oh! Well, we agreed to talk sometime, right? So here I am! Sometime on our linear space-time continuum! So, as the humans make conversation, whatcha been up to? How ya been, pal?”

“I have been well… I was working… photosynthesizing… advised to get new clothes…” Kiku said. Ze looked them up and down. 

“What’s wrong with what you’re wearing? Looks hip to me.”

“I was wondering the same thing; I guess the humans are no longer much involved with peace and loving trees,” Kiku supposed, sadly. 

“I LOVE BOTH OF THOSE THINGS!”

“Me too, seeing as I  _ am _ a peaceful tree.”

“Oh well,” Albany sighed. “I can help you get new clothes that are up-to-date! I studied! Some!” ze offered. Kiku tilted their head, contemplating. It did not seem a bad idea. After all, Albany’s own ensemble seemed to match the present day humans’ closely enough. With the jeans, football jersey, sneakers, and sparkly rainbow suspenders for some extra personality, Albany seemed to fit in with the humans and their interests in denim and athletics just fine. Kiku agreed to go with zem. 

 

The two non-humans walked together down the street. Albany seemed to know where ze was going, so Kiku followed silently at zir side. “So how bout these humans, huh?” Albany began to make conversation. Kiku looked around themself at the humans that passed by, going about their human business and human lives. 

“What about them?” Kiku asked. Albany spread zir arms wide, gesturing to the whole human race. 

“Aren’t they great? Aren’t they fascinating? Look at this  _ culture _ they have! They have so  _ many _ cultures, even! They’re so strange! With their cute little mannerisms and stuff they think is polite and rude. There’s a lot to learn about their societies and, well, I don’t understand much of it!” ze seemed so excited. Kiku smiled to themself. They had never thought about it like that. 

To them, the humans were strange, yes, of course. However, that wasn’t something much worth dwelling on. That was just how the humans were and Kiku was different and separate from that. They preferred not to mingle among them; being a tree was nicer and easier. 

Albany, on the other hand, seemed gleeful to walk among the humans and pretend to be one. How sweet. Albany was waiting for Kiku to say something. “Yes,” Kiku replied simply. ‘Yes’ to what, they didn’t know, but the simple answer usually sufficed with humans. Albany accepted it, anyway. 

“So what’s your tree society like? I didn’t read anything on wood nymph culture.” Albany seemed genuinely interested. Kiku looked around themself at the concrete-filled city. 

“Wood nymph culture? I… I wouldn’t know… It is… Just me. It has just been me for a long time. I have been living primarily as a tree for a long time. Culture? I am what I am. I am not sure if other wood nymphs are similar to how I am and how I choose to live…” Kiku found their human-form heart feeling heavy within their chest. 

“Huh. Cool. Are there other wood nymphs, then? Where did they all go?” 

“Y-Yes… There  _ should _ be others… There  _ were _ others… But there was also a  _ forest _ here last time I saw any of them… I do not know… Where they are or what happened to them.”

“Aw. That sucks, dude. Deforestation was a problem I read up on. You know, you’d think the humans would cut it out considering they need the trees to produce the oxygen vital to their respiratory systems,” Albany commented. “Did you know the other wood nymphs well before they disappeared?”

Kiku found themself a little taken aback at Albany’s wording. Wood nymphs can leave their trees, of course. As a matter of fact, wood nymphs can walk somewhere else and settle as a tree  _ there _ instead. It was not a big deal. It helped the Earth, even, to leave the old home tree and plant a new one somewhere else… But… Albany’s wording had Kiku experiencing the human emotions of  _ worry _ and  _ confusion _ . Were the others… Gone? Where were the others? Were the others okay? Kiku had not sensed the deforestation occurring around them. Had the others? If the tree was killed as one was  _ living there as the tree _ , then… 

“Kiku?” Albany asked, concerned. “Did you know them?” ze inquired again. 

“Yes,” Kiku replied, surprised at the quietness of their voice. “The other wood nymphs that I knew were my family.”

“Past tense?” Albany wondered aloud. 

“I… I don’t know where they are… My family’s trees are gone…”

“Hey,” Albany slugged Kiku playfully in the arm. However, ze must not have studied the playful human gesture well enough because ze ended up punching Kiku in the arm pretty powerfully. Kiku rubbed at it absently. “Don’t worry about it! Tell you what, Kiks-- can I call you Kiks? I’m gunna-- I can take you back to my ship after we get you some new clothes and we can find your family! Easy peasy! They’re probably hangin’ out as trees somewhere nicer than your dog park! But I bet you still get more fertilizer than those guys do. Serves those guys right for not taking you along!” Albany told them encouragingly. Kiku found themself smiling shyly over at zem. They looked zem in zir pretty blue eyes. 

“I’d like that. Thank you.”


	5. Chapter 5

The two arrived at a large building that was labelled a  _ shopping mall _ . Inside, many opportunities for clothing stores awaited. “Where do we start?” Kiku asked, looking down at their small check. Albany clapped zir hands together thoughtfully, as if all zir studying was coming down to this moment. 

“Well, I think we should start with undergarments! Humans put those on first; you should buy those first!” Albany reasoned cleverly. Kiku nodded in agreement, looking around themself in the middle of the busy mall. There were many stores to enter. How were they supposed to choose which one had the best underwear in exchange for Kiku’s check? Albany ran up to the nearest worker in the nearest store. Ze tugged a mostly-destroyed, mostly-dead flower out of zir pocket to introduce zemself. Kiku should probably tell zem at some point that flower-giving was not usual introduction protocol. The worker looked flattered, if a little bewildered, regardless. “Hello, friend! My name is Albany! I am looking for undergarments! Where might I find those?” Albany inquired for Kiku. 

“You… mean like… Underwear?” the worker asked, unsure of herself. 

“Yes, exactly!” 

“I mean… there’s a Victoria’s Secret down that way, but is that what you’re looking for?” the woman pointed in the proper direction hesitantly. 

“Does this store have underwear?” 

“Yes. Lots, in fact. But--”

“Awesome, dude! Thank you so much! C’mon, Kiks! This way!” Albany pointed in the direction the worker had indicated and continued pointing as ze set off in a run, following zir finger. Kiku followed behind at a jog. 

The two came to the store marked Victoria’s Secret. There was, in fact, abundant underwear in this store. Kiku wasn’t entirely sure how practical many of the options would be, but the options were aesthetically pleasing nevertheless. This would do. 

Kiku and Albany browsed the racks of underwear together, Kiku silently hoping for more guidance from their acquaintance as they stared blankly at the lacy and silky selection. “Excuse me, ma’am! Can I help you?” came a preppy voice from behind them. Both Kiku and Albany turned. The shop-worker was addressing Albany, but was now floundering as she became unsure of whether or not she should have referred to zem as “ma’am”. “A-Are we looking for anything in particular today?” she asked, still cautious despite not being corrected by either of them. 

“Yes! I am helping Kiku here,” Albany gestured grandly to Kiku. Kiku offered a wave. “Find some underwear that’ll suit them!” The woman was clearly even more unsure of how to address Kiku. 

“O-Okay! Well, Kiku, are we looking for a bra and panty lingerie set or…?” 

“No, just the underwear will suffice.”

“Alright! No problem! Any particular colors or styles or price ranges we’re looking at here…?”

“This is the amount that I have with me,” Kiku told her, offering her the check for her own inspection. She glanced at it and nodded. 

“Super! We can work with this! Now, colors or styles…? Are we impressing anybody?” she was making conversation now. Kiku just wanted to buy their underwear and move on. They looked back at Albany for guidance on how to answer such a strange question, but the alien had been tuning them out, fascinated by feathers on a bra. Ze felt their eyes on zem. Ze looked up with a grin and a thumbs up to tell them that they were probably doing fine. “Ah, I see,” the woman said, having gleaned some kind of answer to her question from the interaction. “Are there any colors that your partner would like on you?” It wasn’t  _ Albany’s _ underwear. Kiku wasn’t understanding these questions. Humans confused them. They decided to give her a color anyway, as that was what she seemed to want from them. 

“I like the color green,” Kiku said, deciding that, since they were a tree, it would be a fitting color. 

About ten minutes and only a few more strange questions later, Kiku was now equipped with two pairs of green underwear-- buy one get one free sale-- and a little bag with the store’s logo to carry it in. 

However, Kiku now only possessed 56 cents from their original check. This was not going as they had originally planned. Now what? Gilbert had asked them to change their  _ outer _ attire with the money, but Kiku only had the underwear covered! 

Albany seemed to sense their distress. 

“Dude, what’s up? You seem, like, totally down in the dumps.”

“Albany, I don’t have any money left for more clothes,” they said quietly. 

“Oh, well, I can help with that! Do you think this will cover some more clothes?” Albany dug in zir pocket and pulled out a fat wad of hundred dollar bills (and, consequently, a few flowers that had been stuffed in the pocket as well). Kiku blinked, mentally noting that the amount was quite a bit more than their check for working. 

“Yes, I think that will do quite nicely, Are you sure you want to spend this on me? Isn’t this the only amount you have for the trip? How long are you staying?” Albany looked surprised, then touched by Kiku’s concern for zir wellbeing. 

“Nah, it’s not a problem. I’ve got boxes of these things at home. I’ll be here a while in Earth time; I’ve gotta have time to study all the human stuff!”

“I see.” Kiku found themself wondering how long Albany meant by ‘a while’. They rather enjoyed zir presence. It made the human form seem not too bad. “In that case, I will not protest to you spending money on my clothes,” Kiku informed zem. Albany grinned widely, spinning on zir heel, zir long blonde hair billowing behind zem. Kiku found themself mesmerized. 

Mesmerized? 

Kiku thought about it, trying to sort out and evaluate all of these emotions that they were experiencing. It was hard. Emotions were so dreadfully messy, tangled, and confusing. Kiku thought about Albany. After all, it  _ was _ the alien inducing these emotional responses within Kiku. 

Physical traits of Albany: ze was quite a bit taller than Kiku; Kiku came up to Albany’s shoulder. Ze had deep blue eyes that were very expressive of zir emotions. Ze had pleasant, plump lips. Ze wore glasses, as many humans did. The glasses were black, rectangular, and did a fair job of complimenting Albany’s facial structure. Ze had long, blond hair that reached down to the middle of zir back. The hair seemed to be well-kept by the alien, healthy and luxurious. It would be hair typical of a human woman, yet Albany’s other features left zem entirely androgynous to humans. Ze had a wide, reckless smile that stretched across zir face often. Albany had more mass than Kiku, displaying both an amount of muscle and an amount of softness. Ze had long legs, thick thighs, and a round rump. 

Emotional traits of Albany: ze was the embodiment of extrovertism, contrasting hugely with Kiku. Albany was enthusiastic and excitable about things that Kiku had never given thought to. Ze loved the humans and found them fascinating. There seemed to be a lot of compassion in zir heart for all species. Ze seemed a rash, shameless sort, which was neither a flaw nor a benefit. Kiku knew zem to be a procrastinator, not one for studying. Albany appeared interested far more in the action of an event than the preparation for it. 

These known and perceived traits considered, how was this making Kiku feel? 

Kiku found constant noise and action tiresome, but it was bearable when it came from Albany’s particular brand of insanity. Kiku found Albany’s outlandish personality endearing, rather than annoying. They did not understand it. Furthermore, Kiku did not have an abundance of prior experience with  _ attraction _ , whether sexual  _ or _ romantic. However, Kiku found Albany magnetizing, both for zir physical and personality traits. Judging by Kiku’s undeniable attraction to Albany’s physical traits, it could be pinpointed that the attraction they experienced was not merely platonic. 

Kiku felt the realization hit them like a brick being thrown at their head. 

Meanwhile, Albany was all but skipping as ze wandered along ahead of them, scoping out stores where clothes could be found. Ze turned around to make sure Kiku was still following zem, breaking them out of their stupor. “Hey, Kiks! How about this store?” ze called back to them in that voice that never failed to project. Ze flashed them zir signature smile and Kiku’s stomach fluttered with what humans referred to as  _ butterflies _ . 

Face red, they nodded without bothering to look at whatever store Albany was suggesting before following zem blindly and trusting. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've got a spy au up if any of you are interested! Thanks for sticking with this madness! Also, school may affect my updating speed; I don't know that for sure yet, though. Love you all!


	6. Chapter 6

Albany was a comforting presence during the shopping experience, being better at speaking with the salespeople than Kiku was. Therefore, after what felt like an eternity later (which is saying a lot for one who spends decades as a tree), the two were exiting the store with quite the bounty of clothing. Kiku really hoped that the selection would satisfy Gilbert’s request for normal human clothing because they had decided that they were not a big fan of _shopping_.

Kiku and Albany left the shopping mall. Albany was babbling on from one topic to another, from zir firsthand Internet studies to zir newfound enjoyment of human hamburgers. Kiku was listening intently, simultaneously amused by zir speech patterns and zir love for the human world. Kiku was more than a little out of touch with modern humans, so they found listening to zem to be a healthy learning experience, but then…

Albany cut off in the middle of a passionate discourse about the human psychology behind Internet cat videos as ze heard it too. Kiku looked down at their grumbly stomach, realizing that their condition _did_ seem to be deteriorating in this form. They blinked, surprised. They couldn’t remember a time when they had been out of their tree form long enough to require human sustenance. What need did they have of unhealthy American human food when returning to their peaceful state as a tree and photosynthesizing was an option? “You’re hungry,” Albany informed them helpfully.

“It would seem I am…” Kiku agreed. “No need to worry-- some time in my tree will solve the problem.”

“Dude, we could eat somewhere! We could get burgers together!” Kiku shrugged.

“If that is what you would like to do, I will join you.”

“Awesome! Plus, you can put on your new clothes!” Albany further suggested. Kiku looked down at the bags in their hands thoughtfully and nodded, deeming it a good idea. Besides, knowledge on current human cuisine probably couldn’t hurt-- they _were_ seeming to spend more time in their human form lately. “ _Then_ , dude, we’ll go find your fam and you’ll look all snazzy when you chew them out for not hanging around in the dog park with you!” Kiku _did_ like the sound of snazzy and finding their family. Kiku nodded in agreement with Albany’s plan once more. “ _Sweet_ ! I know _just_ the place to take us!”

 

Albany was happy to introduce them to the burger joint across the street from where ze lived. Ze pointed out the apartment that was zirs to Kiku as they passed by, telling them about zir enjoyment of the quaint, primitive human inventions of _baths_ and _showers_. Ze was delighted by the mysteries that were indoor plumbing.

“See,” Albany was telling them as the two entered the establishment called Burger Haven “I asked my landlord and they told me that the water that comes and goes from the sink, the shower, the bath, and the toilet goes through pipes and to the water treatment plant. I’m thinking I’ll go check out the water treatment plant because that must be some awesome plant with _huge_ roots to deal with all the water from my neighborhood’s buildings. Do you know if it flowers in the spring? Dude, a plant that big must have some _massive_ flowers.” Kiku shook their head, clueless, because they had never seen the city’s water treatment plant either.

Kiku looked around themself, overwhelmed by the smell of grease and deep fried food. Neon signs hummed on the walls. The floor was checkered black and white. Unhappy people in uniforms faked smiles behind a counter that reminded Kiku of Gilbert’s cafe. Rock music played from tinny speakers. Elderly humans sitting in booths of fake red leather looked up at them as they walked in, their jowls swaying as they turned their heads in turn to stare and frown disapprovingly at the inhumans that appeared younger.

Kiku was unsure as to whether or not this was a benevolent environment for the two of them to be in, but Albany was unperturbed and flounced right up to the counter, so Kiku followed zir lead. “What do you want, Kiku?” Albany asked them. “I _love_ the burger with everything on it!”  ze recommended.

“I will try what you enjoy, then. I do not have much experience with human food.” Albany nodded understandingly and ordered two of zir favorite burgers and French fries and sodas. Kiku couldn’t help but feel proud of zem, thinking back to the first meeting between the two-- Albany had improved so much with human customs.

“Dude! You should totally try on the new clothes!” Albany encouraged. “Oh! But you should put them on in the bathroom because you can get arrested for changing in public,” ze advised. Kiku nodded, at least remembering _that_ from previous human form experiences. Humans were very sensitive about the naked form, despite it being the natural state. Also, the thought of _Albany_ seeing _Kiku_ ’s naked form evoked a nervous, embarrassed sort of emotional reaction from them.

Strange, considering wood nymphs were beings of nature.

Kiku dwelt on the thought some more as they retreated into a unisex restroom with their bags of clothing. They glanced at themself in the mirror, the human form looking the same as it always did. The same short black hair, small stature, smooth skin, and brown eyes. They stripped themself of the so-called ‘hippie’ garb and replaced it with their recent purchases, hoping for the best.

Once changed, they gathered up their old clothes in their arms, looked at themself in the mirror-- not sure if it made them anymore attractive--, and shyly emerged to rejoin Albany.

The alien was voraciously tearing into a burger that barely fit in zir hands, condiments and toppings oozing out onto zir wrapper and napkin with each bite. Ze was pretty caught up in the meal, but then froze mid-chomp when ze spotted Kiku.

Ze looked at Kiku. Kiku looked away.

Albany swallowed.

Kiku shifted on their feet awkwardly, assuming that Albany would give them _some_ sort of indication on whether the clothes were any sort of improvement by human society standards-- ze was the one who studied, not Kiku.

When ze did not speak, uncharacteristic for zem, Kiku looked up in confusion. Albany’s face was _bright red_. Ze was staring. Having been caught staring, Albany looked away, anxiously laughing it off. “I think it suits you!” Albany said, finally. Kiku looked down at the outfit, confused by zir reaction.

Green, denim jeans. Sneakers. A button-up shirt that was the gentle pink of a sakura blossom, sleeves folded nearly to their elbow. It seemed to be a simple outfit, surely not _too_ far outside of the human societal normalities.

 _It suits me?_ Kiku was wondering. It sounded like a positive reaction, yet what did zir hesitance mean?

Ze seemed… flustered. Flustered? Albany? Kiku cleared their throat. “Is… something… wrong?” they wanted to know.

“No!” Albany exclaimed quickly, then composed zemself once more with that same nervous giggle. “Nah, Kiks. It suits you!”

“You already said that. But why is your face red? What have I done to fluster you?” Albany’s eyes darted around.

“Flustered? _Me_ ? _Flustered_ ? Psssh! I’m not _flustered_ ! It’s just that your old clothes didn’t really suit you, but these really do, ya know? But not that the old clothes looked _bad_ on you or anything! ‘Cause I think you’d look good in anything! It’s just that seeing you like this is such a change, but it’s a good change and I have no idea what I’m feeling right now and I think I’m talking a lot, but I think you’re really cool and even though humans are super neat, I think you’re the neatest person I’ve met so far which is really saying a lot because there’s so many people around here and they’re all really neat--” ze had to stop to gasp for breath. Ze looked ready to continue rambling on but Kiku stopped zem, startled.

“Albany, what are you trying to say?” Kiku asked zem gently. Albany looked around desperately as if the answer ze was looking for would be written in a neon sign.

“Uhh…” The two looked at each other a long time. “Your buttons are uneven,” Albany decided to go with. Kiku glanced down, seeing that they had accidentally skipped the bottom button hole, making the row crooked.

“Oh… So they are…”

“Also, the burger is super tasty. You should try it,” Albany added on. Kiku let the subject drop, but it lingered in their mind. Instead, they decided to humor their companion and try the sandwich.

The two sat in silence that seemed deafening, tense. The burger was alright, Kiku decided. It satisfied their hunger. It did not fit in their hands and hardly fit in their jaw. Grease and condiments got all over their hands and did a better job of falling out than staying between the buns.

“I can walk you home!” Albany offered, breaking the uncomfortable quiet. Kiku looked at zem evenly, calculatingly before speaking.

“I would like that,” they decided, the earlier words still ringing in their head, despite Albany’s poor attempts to avoid them. And so, the two exited the restaurant, Albany’s hands in zir pockets instead of gesticulating wildly along with a narrative. Ze didn’t speak. Kiku couldn’t say the lack of speaking was peaceful. Ze seemed to be brooding, thoughtful. Was it about the words that had slipped back at the restaurant? Kiku was almost certain that it was.

“Hey, Kiks?” Albany piped up, zir voice cracking a little before ze cleared it. Kiku looked up and the alien seemed to shy away. “U-Uh… Um… Hey, where will you put your old clothes? And also the extra clothes? Does your tree form have storage or somethin’?” Kiku blinked at zem. They hadn’t thought about that.

“Ah, no. It does not have storage. It would be left outside of the tree… Only the clothes on my back will disappear with me into the form of the sakura tree.”

“Woah, what? But what if you’re, like, holding something? How does the tree form differentiate between what you’re wearing and what you’re holding? Does it have a mind of its own? Aren’t _you_ its mind? What if you were holding a drink and didn’t let go? What would happen? Wouldn’t you just be holding the drink when you turned human again? Why couldn’t you do that with bags? Why wouldn’t you have to get naked to get into the tree form if you can’t bring your bags?” Albany’s curiosity was getting the better of zir sour mood, transforming zir features into the ones that Kiku… was quite fond of. Kiku found themself smiling.

“Well, Albany, I frankly have no idea about the specific logistics of what I can and cannot bring with me into my tree form. Perhaps if there is a day no humans are in the dog park, we can carry out some experiments with the process, if you would like,” Kiku offered. Albany perked up even more.

“Dude, I _love_ experiments! Science rules! _WE SHOULD TOTALLY DO THAT_!” Kiku was grinning now. It was a rare expression for them, but Albany seemed to be good at drawing it to the surface.

“I would be a more than willing participant. It would be intriguing, I am sure.”

“But, ya know, until then... We could always drop off your extra stuff at my place? You can come get it whenever…?”  

“That is a kind gesture. Thank you.” Albany looked away, cheeks tinged red again at Kiku’s sincerity.

“Hey, no problem, dude. Anytime,” ze rasped. Then coughed.

Therefore, the two of them crossed the street to Albany’s apartment building. Kiku followed closely behind zem up the stairway, the alien repeatedly looking back over zir shoulder with a huge smile at Kiku. It was cute.

Albany struggled with zir key, wrestling with the piece of metal quite aggressively before successfully opening zir door. Albany spread zir arms proudly. “Here it is! My humble human residence!”

Kiku stepped inside, expecting whirring and glowing evidence of alien inhabitation. However, it was merely a simple, small apartment full of boxes waiting to be unpacked. There was a little kitchen and a little couch that was not entirely aesthetically pleasing with its strange orange hue. There was a little hallway, leading presumably to a little bedroom. Kiku liked it here, they decided upon a whim. “Uh, I can take your clothes ‘n’ stuff… Do you... Want it anywhere in particular?” ze inquired. Kiku shrugged, shaking their head.

“I am not familiar with proper human clothing storage,” Kiku informed zem. “I will leave it to you.” Thus, Albany set the excess property carefully on zir kitchen counter for lack of better ideas.

Then, Albany had turned back to face Kiku. Presumably, this was the point where the two would descend back down the stairs, would walk back to Kiku’s tree, and Kiku would get some much needed rest in the form of the sakura tree until work the next day. Yet, neither of them moved. The two stood there, a good distance apart.

Albany closed the distance, coming nearer to Kiku while still pretending ze was heading towards the door casually. Kiku didn’t move. And Albany came to a halt in front of them.

Kiku stared up at the alien, zir gorgeous blue eyes curious and cautious at the same time. The alien stared back, inches away. Kiku found themself transfixed, not for the first time, by zir soft-looking lips. Albany’s mouth parted slightly. The moment stretched on in silence, a clock ticking somewhere in the apartment.“Uh, y-your buttons are still uneven,” Albany spoke quietly into the space between them.

“So they are,” Kiku agreed, not moving, not looking away.

“I mean, I could fix them, if you want.” Albany was _scarlet_. Kiku didn’t hold it against zem, as they were too.

“I’d like that.”

Albany’s hands were shaking as ze undid the buttons of Kiku’s shirt for them, but ze only looked away from Kiku’s eyes for seconds at a time. Zir nimble fingers paused as Kiku’s shirt fell open, accidentally brushing against Kiku’s exposed skin, but ze didn’t stare, didn’t glance down, didn’t know if that would be okay.

It seemed both of them were holding their breaths. Albany fumbled with the buttons almost frantically, seemingly terrified ze was doing something incorrect. Ze wasn’t. Kiku found themself leaning into zem slightly, subtly.

Ze was almost finished fixing the buttons, but ze was now leaning closer too. Kiku’s eyelids fluttered shut as Albany began to close the distance between them. Zir breath ghosting over Kiku’s barely parted lips. Zir fingers trembling with nervousness as ze corrected the last button. Albany’s hands gently, cautiously straying from the buttons to press into Kiku’s lower back and push them flush against zem. Kiku letting zem. One of Albany's hands rising to cup Kiku's cheek, tentatively stroking a thumb over the cheekbone.  _Strange_ , they mused to themself almost deliriously as the two melted toward each other. 

“WAIT!” Albany screeched suddenly, shoving Kiku away from zem with more force than ze’d intended. Ze cursed as Kiku flailed, eyes snapping open to prevent themself from falling. “ _I’m sorry_! I didn’t mean to push you!” ze fretted.

“What was--”

“W-We need to find your family, right? Right. C’mon, Kiks!” ze laughed, almost hysteric from near panic.

“Wait--” Kiku started. Albany winced and they trailed off.

“Hey, let’s pretend that didn’t happen, okay? Okay! Awesome! Now, come _on_ , we’ve got stuff to do! My ship is so cool; you’ll love it!” Albany _ran_ away from the situation. Kiku’s heart throbbed painfully in their chest, watching zem retreat as quickly as possible away from them, but then following after zem nevertheless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave comments, kudos, criticism, or whatever you see fit! I love all of you!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess it takes me a sick day to finish an update.¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ Also, guess who's the founder of a GSA at my school now

“Albany,” Kiku called after zem, breathless. 

“What’s up, Kiks?” ze called back over zir shoulder. Albany clearly had no intentions of slowing down.

“ _ My human form has significantly shorter legs than yours _ ,” Kiku wheezed. 

“Sorry, dude! I don’t have an alternate form!” Albany informed them, again from over zir shoulder. The two ran all the way to the dog park before Albany finally slowed down enough for Kiku to catch up. Both were panting. The sun was setting.

“ _ Albany _ ,” Kiku finally had the chance to gasp, clutching a stitch in their side. “Why did you push me away?” they questioned, hurt. Albany looked pained. 

“Look, I was given some rules before this trip, okay?” ze said, lowering zir voice so that only Kiku could possibly hear. Ze was better at whispering without projecting now, Kiku noticed. “I am supposed to live among the humans and collect data. It would be valuable for me to make human acquaintances.  _ But _ , I’m not supposed to make lasting attachments. I won’t  _ be _ here indefinitely! I may have to make an emergency exit off the planet! I… I don’t want anyone… I don’t want you to get… hurt… Ya know, emotionally.” They stared. Ze stared back, starting to sniff a little, eyes turning red. “I… Don’t wanna talk about it…” ze looked away. “I’m sorry.” These words sounded like Kiku felt. “But hey my ship is cool!” ze was close to tears, something that Kiku had no idea how to deal with, so they humored zem. 

“Very well. Show me to your starship,” their words were gentle. Albany sniffed and nodded. 

“I will! It’s the best ship in the whole world!” ze assured them tearfully. Albany walked with them around the fences of the dog park, reaching a small forested green area-- what seemed to be the only remains of the forest that once was-- behind the park. The trees were dense there, even if the area was only about the size of a football field. 

The trees were tall and old, the smell of leaves and rich earth helping to mask the stench of cars and city life. The leaves and branches weaving together above the two cast the world into deep shadow, orange beams of light from the sunset pouring through at occasional intervals. It felt like another realm entirely here, one hidden-- for now-- from human influence. 

To Kiku, it felt like coming home. 

Walking there with Albany across the cool, spongy forest floor, it felt only natural. Albany drew closer to Kiku here, unnerved by the chattering of the insects and animals in the trees and the darkness. Albany felt safer with Kiku there, they realized with interest and a pang in their chest. 

Kiku reached down to entwine their fingers with zirs. 

Albany hesitated, but then gripped their hand tightly, accepting the physical reassurance. “What’s the matter?” Kiku asked zem without looking at zem. 

“It’s different here… It feels like there’s ghosts…” ze whispered as if some spirit found in the wind hissing through the woods would hear if ze spoke louder. 

“Do ghosts frighten you?” Kiku blinked at zem, surprised. 

“I mean,  _ yeah _ ! I may be a fearless space traveller pretending to be a human among humans, a race known to be hostile on occasion, but we’re talking  _ non-corporeals  _ here! If ghosts are the lost souls of humans, like some human lore suggests, then those  _ ghosts _ could be hostile too! I can’t  _ defend _ myself against  _ ghosts _ !” Kiku smiled to themself at zir innocence and how zir sweaty palm clung to theirs all the tighter. 

“Albany,” Kiku ran a soothing thumb across zir hand. “You have nothing to fear from the ghosts. As a being of the forest, I would know.” In their natural element, they felt much less human than Albany seemed in that moment. 

Kiku was brought back to a time when they and their siblings had played amongst the trees together, Yao, the oldest and the wisest, watching over all of the younger nymphs. Kiku remembered the laughter and the giggles that came with running barefoot along the forest floor, playing hide and seek with the spirits and the squirrels and the deer and the sprites and the naiads in the brook and the naughty fairies and the mischievous pixies and each other. 

It was quieter now, the fair folk having left long before Kiku’s family. It was just the whispers of the ghosts now, but even they stayed silent as Albany and Kiku trekked through the forest. 

Where had it all gone? 

Kiku was snapped out of their memories by the sound of low murmurs that were definitely  _ not _ the spirits. Albany clutched at Kiku, squeaking fearfully when ze heard it too. “ _ Kiku _ !” ze hissed. “What’s that sound?! Kiku, my  _ ship _ is that way! ARE THE GHOSTS  _ HAUNTING _ MY  _ SHIP _ ?! If I could’ve confirmed the existence of the non-corporeals I wouldn’t have landed here, but my instruments don’t  _ account _ for non-corporeals and--” ze was hyperventilating. Kiku hushed zem, delicately but firmly. 

“No. That’s not the spirits. That’s the sound of humans.” Kiku was tense. 

“Humans? Well  _ my _ ship is invisible to  _ humans _ , so we shouldn’t have anything to worry about. Besides, I  _ love _ humans! C’mon, we can totally get in there without the humans seeing us,” Albany was unconcerned and marched straight forward with a renewed sense of determination. Kiku trailed behind zem now, not so sure anymore. “Whatcha waitin’ for?” ze laughed as Kiku halted at the sight of bright yellow human police tape, warning everyone to away. Albany ducked under it. “It’s right this way!” ze called, too loud for Kiku’s liking. 

“Albany, maybe… we shouldn’t…” Kiku told zem, trying to grab at zir hand to pull zem back to their side and not stride so confidently onward. 

“Don’t be  _ silly _ ! Humans can’t see my ship! And humans can’t get in it! There’s nothing to worry abou--”

“IS SOMEBODY OUT THERE?!” a booming voice demanded, cutting Albany off. Albany shrunk back a bit, but then gestured for Kiku to follow zem away from the human voice. The two would go around instead. 

Soon, the two happened across a clearing. It wasn’t natural, Kiku immediately could sense. It was perfectly circular with a complex design etched within. And it was swarming with humans. Kiku gave Albany a questioning look. Ze shrugged sheepishly. “It happens when I land,” ze whispered as quietly as possible. 

The two of them were hidden in the shadows on the edge of the clearing, unnoticed by any of the humans in official black uniforms. Kiku and Albany ducked behind a tree and some underbrush. Once more safely hidden away, Albany pointed towards the center of the circle that had obliterated any plants in its wake. “My ship is there,” ze breathed in Kiku’s ear, voice a tad troubled as the humans seemed to have found it, despite not being able to see it. "This is  _so_ coming off of my grade..."

As the wood nymph and the alien watched, the humans busied about the invisible craft. Paths carelessly cut through the forest had made way for a gigantic vehicle and smaller heavy-lifting human equipment. As the two silent onlookers gazed at the secret operation unfolding before them, the humans operated the machines to pick up something that seemed large and heavy, yet could not be seen. 

The humans loaded Albany’s spaceship into the huge vehicle and yanked the door down behind it. Instinctively, Albany cried out in protest. Kiku clapped a hand over zir mouth, but it was too late. All flashlights, all personnel, all weapons were suddenly trained towards the noise. “ _ Albany _ ,  _ run _ ,” Kiku hissed, dragging the distraught alien behind them as they took off into the dense woods. Kiku knew how to get around a forest quickly-- flitting with inhuman grace through the trees came as easily as breathing or shifting into the sakura tree. However, Albany did not possess this skill. The alien had about as much grace as ze pounded through the forest, pulled behind Kiku, as a bull.

The humans tore through the forest behind the two, gaining on them, catching glimpses of them as they darted this way and that. Kiku did not understand humans well, but they knew that they could not afford to let these humans catch them and Albany. These humans had taken Albany’s spacecraft in secret and under the cover of evening. Kiku knew that the humans would take Albany away just the same if ze was captured. After all, Albany wasn’t human. Not technically. The humans had no reason to treat zem as such, no matter how kind, no matter how compassionate, no matter how curious, no matter how  _ alive _ ze was. 

Albany was breathing hard and lagging behind Kiku, but they did not for one second let go of zir sweaty hand. They could see the lights of the city before them through cracks in the trees. They could make it. 

Humans yelled orders to each other, way too close. Kiku had never felt such primal human instinct as adrenaline rushed through their system telling them to  _ run, run, run faster, faster, faster _ . 

They were perspiring something awful, their hair getting in their face and sticking to it. The ground was uneven and soft below them. The night air was warm and suffocating, despite how much it smelled of home. 

The lights were closer now. Kiku could see the fence of the dog park now.  _ They could make it _ . 

Then, the fence was in their way and they were clumsily scrambling up it with both hands and both feet and all their strength. Albany was attempting to do the same, but had clearly no experience whatsoever in the process of quickly scaling a fence; Kiku had only their experience with climbing trees. 

Kiku dropped down safely on the other side of the fence, humans shrieking for them to freeze. Albany fell with a thud beside them, Kiku immediately urging zem back to zir feet. Frightened tears streaked zir face; ze had no clue what was going on. The humans went  _ through _ the fence, shredding the chain-link metal like a curtain with whatever it was they held. A terrified noise got stuck in Kiku’s throat, strangling them. 

What could they do? What could they  _ do _ ? Kiku could disappear into their tree without a hitch, but they had Albany.  _ Albany _ was not a tree. Albany was an alien that Kiku would  _ not _ allow to be captured by the violent, thoughtless hands of humans. 

Police sirens wailed, getting closer. 

Then, Albany was being yanked away from Kiku. Kiku let out an unintelligible shout, grasping at empty air for zir hand. Albany wailed-- a terrified, heartbreaking noise-- as the big, burly human held zem still as ze desperately struggled. Other humans were converging on zem as ze sobbed, trying to reach for Kiku’s hand but being restrained.

Kiku steeled themself, holding their head high against the human. What right did these  _ primates _ have to do this? The human hesitated, seeing the look in their eyes. 

Kiku thrust out their arm towards the human, a thick, winding branch whipping towards the person restraining Albany as their arm was no longer made of flesh. Being lashed with a tree branch being used similarly to a whip is not a pleasant sensation for a human. Thus, Albany was released. Albany gripped the rough texture of the extended appendage as Kiku retracted it back into themself, bringing Albany with it in some grotesque imitation of a ballroom dance move. 

Kiku caught zir hand. 

And, together, the alien and the wood nymph ran for their lives away from the humans who had been shocked into a collective standstill. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave comments, criticisms, and/or kudos! <3


	8. Chapter 8

The two lost the police that hadn’t witnessed Kiku’s abilities in city alleys and busy streets. Albany was leaning heavily on Kiku by the time the two approached zir apartment building. Hands were still clasped between the alien and the nymph like a lifeline connecting them. 

Kiku led the way up the stairs. Albany unlocked the door. Neither spoke. Not once did their hands separate. 

Albany led Kiku to zir ugly couch before collapsing on top of it, looking utterly exhausted. Kiku sat lightly beside zem as ze covered zir face with zir hands. “They took my ship,” Albany stated into zir hands, voice deceptively even. 

“Yes,” Kiku agreed gently, not sure if reaching out to take zir hand once more would be welcome. 

“They tried to take  _ me _ !” Albany realized, taking zir hands away from zir face to reveal scared surprise. Ze looked to Kiku for guidance. “Where would they have taken me? What would they have done? Where’s my ship? I need to help you find your family. I was gonna be the hero for you, Kiks. I was gonna… I can’t… I…” Kiku cupped zir cheek tenderly, meeting zir eyes. 

“The humans did not understand what they had found when they found your ship. They did not want to frighten other humans by letting them be as confused by your ship as they were. So, they wanted to stop us from telling other humans, Albany. However, if they would have caught us, I believe that they may have figured out that you are the pilot of that ship-- that you are not of Earth. I do not know what they would have done, but I knew that I would not let them take you.” 

“Do they hate things that are not of Earth?”

“My dear alien,” Kiku laughed quietly. “I do not understand the humans any better than you do.” Albany smiled at them shyly, covering their hand with zir own against zir cheek. Albany slumped forward, touching zir forehead to Kiku’s. 

“I still think humans are awesome, though,” ze decided. “They were just scared. They’re scared of what they don’t understand. They’re just trying their best to understand and sometimes they lash out.” Kiku’s heart melted at zir words, adoration for the alien before them growing all the time. 

“I suppose you’re right,” Kiku agreed thoughtfully. “I still can’t let them take you, though.”

“Oh, well me neither! I don’t wanna find out what they’ll do! But, hey, I’ve got a super sweet wood nymph lookin’ out for me, right?” Ze grinned as Kiku blushed. “Dude, what was that thing you did back there? Looked like you had a rooty tentacle or somethin’ and you totally whacked that guy and got me outta there! That was  _ so cool _ ! Have you always been able to do that? Do you have any  _ other _ powers?”

“I… Well, yes, I’ve always had the ability, as a wood nymph, to do that. It is typically unnecessary, though. Other than that... “ Kiku had to think for a moment. They had never considered it ‘powers’, as Albany referred to it. It was merely a part of Kiku. People could run or jump. Birds could fly. Kiku could shift into a tree… among other things. “I have the ability to do this,” Kiku raised their unoccupied hand between them and Albany, palm up, and willed a small sakura blossom to grow within it. Albany gasped in delight as ze watched, fascinated. Kiku smiled shyly. They pulled away enough to pluck the flower from where it grew. They offered it to Albany. Albany took it into zir hand, staring at it in wonder as if it was the most beautiful flower ze had ever seen. 

“Does that… hurt?” ze whispered, delicately stroking the tiny petals as if checking to make sure it was real. Kiku shook their head, their forehead brushing against Albany’s as they did. Albany met their eyes once more. “You’re  _ amazing _ , Kiku.” Zir words were sincere and awestruck. “Thank you so much.” Kiku wasn’t sure what ze was thanking them for. The flower? Rescuing zem earlier? Existing? 

Silence stretched between the two, not uncomfortable aside from the notion that both wanted to draw closer to the other. 

Albany’s eyes flicked to Kiku’s mouth once or twice. Kiku looked away, remembering what had happened last time. “Albany, you should get some rest. It is late. Besides, I have work tomorrow. I should get back to my tree…” 

“No!” Albany exclaimed at once as if the idea were ridiculous. “Those cop guys in the black uniforms are probably still there at the dog park! What if they catch you? Kiku, what if they find  _ my _ house?”

“What would you have me do, Albany?”

“Stay,” ze proposed, taking their hand in zirs. “Stay the night.” 

“O-Okay…” Kiku breathed. 

“Hey, you can take my bed. ‘Cause I’m your host, ya know? I’ll give ya some space and take the couch. You can shower if you want! It’s pretty cool! I can show you how to work if if you want!” 

“Thank you… I do believe I will require instruction on how to use your shower, though.” 

 

Kiku examined the tile stall with interest, running their fingers curiously along the artificial stone texture. “Okay, Kiks,” Albany was saying. “This here is a  _ shower _ . Humans use it to keep clean. They also use baths but I think the shower is cool. It’s like. Artificial rain. But better. You turn  _ this _ knob,” Albany demonstrated. “ _ This _ way makes it warmer,  _ this _ way makes it colder. You stand underneath the water without clothes. The water goes through  _ that _ drain, through pipes, and hydrates the water treatment plant.” Kiku nodded their understanding. “Here, I’ve got shampoo and conditioner in _ one homogenous mixture _ \-- aren’t the humans so brilliant? You scrub that into your hair. It gets all bubbly and is  _ an irritant when exposed to orifices such as your eyes _ . You wash it out and then your hair is clean. Then you use this soap stuff on your body. You wash it off and then your body is clean. Dude, would that make your tree form squeaky clean too?”

Kiku shook their head. “No. Little of what affects my human form affects my tree form as well.”

“Rad.”

“I think it is,” Kiku agreed

“Also, here is a towel for when you are done. Also, we need to get you some pajamas. Humans sleep in special clothes during the night-- isn’t that cute? Also, I have found out in my pretending to be a human that pajamas are totally the bomb.com, which is human tech speak for ‘very good.’ Also, you can borrow some of  _ my _ pajamas for the night so you can try ‘em out, okie dokie?” Albany extended a thumbs up in the form of a question. Kiku hesitantly gave zem a thumbs up back. “Sweet!” Albany exclaimed. “Go ahead and do your thing; I’m gonna go check the human Internet for where an alien ship might go. If you need help, let me know!” With a cheerful wave, Albany zipped out of the room. 

And Kiku was left alone to work the shower. 

 

Kiku decided that they liked showers too. At the right temperature, it felt like a wonderful, refreshing rain. However, at a  _ warmer _ temperature, Kiku decided that it felt like heaven. Perhaps humans were good for more than just tea. 

Now with hair smelling like artificial roses and skin smelling like “Fruit Fusion,” Kiku wiped away the remaining moisture from their form. 

Heavy pounding on the bathroom door startled Kiku. “Kiku! Kiku! Guess what! I think I know where my ship is!” Albany’s voice called from the other side. 

“Do you? That’s wonderful,” Kiku called back to zem, reaching for their clothes on the bathroom floor. 

“Yeah, but I don’t know how to… get to it…” 

“How do you mean?” Kiku asked, opening the door after pulling on their pants, buttoning their shirt with one hand and scrubbing the water from their hair with the other. Albany stuttered something or other, but then was reduced to silence as ze stared, eyes wide. 

“Um…” was all ze replied, cheeks red. Kiku lifted an eyebrow. Albany looked half mystified and half terrified because of the presence of the aforementioned emotion. “Oh, yeah, I’ve got some pajamas if you want to borrow some…?” ze offered weakly. 

“I would not be opposed to the idea. Now, your ship?” 

“My ship?”

“Yes. You mentioned not knowing how to get to it?”

“Oh! Right! Well, the Internet says that the American hub for secret alien business is this place called Area 51. But, the Internet also says that it isn’t a place that you can just  _ visit _ . I don’t think the humans intend for aliens to  _ get their ships back _ once they’re in that place. But don’t worry! I think I’ve watched enough human action movies in my studying that I should be able to wing it,” Albany proposed. “We just have to travel about… 2,200 miles.”

“That’s a long distance to cover. Albany, as much as I would love to help you travel to Area 51, I have a job,” Kiku reminded zem. 

“Oh… Well, that’s alright! I’ll probably be fine going myself! It shouldn’t take me that long if I take an airplane! Then, getting my ship back here will take less than a second, so we’re good there!” Albany reassured them. Kiku nodded thoughtfully. They still found themself worried for the alien. 

“Perhaps you should look into researching some more about Area 51 before you go… After all, your research with the action movies was not helpful when we were overtaken by the officers in black… You could come with me to work and ask the humans there about it. I’m sure that they will be reasonably knowledgeable on the topic.” Albany nodded sadly. 

“You’re right, dude… But hey! Going to work with you sounds super fun! Also, you get to try out some pajamas so it’s, like, double awesome!” 

 

Albany was correct: pajamas were wonderful. The pajamas were soft, but what was strangely more comforting, was that the night clothes smelled of Albany. Kiku was left alone for the night. They laid awake in Albany’s bed, dwarfed by zir large clothes. They knew that it would behoove them to sleep, but instead their mind drifted. 

This was, of course, mostly due to the fact that they were not used to  _ sleeping _ in their human form. Frankly, they had no idea how to go about the process. Therefore, they laid still and hoped for the best.  

The city did not sleep outside. Cars releasing carbon gases into the atmosphere did not quiet down for bed. Humans worked in the nighttime as well as the daytime. Kiku stayed awake in an alien’s bed, watching the lights of the outside disrupt the dark peace of the night. 

Hours must have passed; Kiku was beginning to really feel the toll of time now that they were not in their tree form. As a tree, time was such an arbitrary thing. As a human, it made sure that one was ever-aware of its presence as it passed. 

Kiku was beginning to feel real human fatigue as the time marched relentlessly forward. How humans did this kind of thing on a regular basis was beyond their comprehension. 

Some police sirens started up outside, coming closer but remaining harmlessly away. To Kiku, it was nothing more than a nuisance to be ignored-- another inconvenience of the human world. 

Then, another noise caught their attention. This one came from inside the apartment. Rustling. Then, the rustling was followed by a thud. Which was followed by frantic scrambling. Which was followed by quiet, hurried knocks on the bedroom door. “Albany, what is it?” Kiku asked without sitting up or rolling to face the door. 

“Kiku, the sirens! Are they-- are they coming for  _ me _ ?! Are those for  _ me _ ? They’re close… Do you think they--” Zir voice was strained. Kiku sighed to themself, tired but not aggravated. 

“Albany, come here,” was all Kiku replied with. The alien did not need to be told twice and burst through the door with zir usual racket. Ze looked afraid, glancing around zemself for answers. Zir eyes finally settled on Kiku’s. Zirs were full of tears. Kiku crooked a finger at zem, drawing the equally exhausted blonde closer. Ze collapsed to zir knees by the side of the bed pitifully. Kiku held out a hand to zem. “Albany, the sirens are not after you. Listen to them-- they’re heading away from us now. They are likely on their way to interfere in some human business. Are you alright?” 

Albany buried zir face in the edge of the bed, gripping Kiku’s hand. “I-I don’t know…” came zir muffled answer. Ze sat up, sniffling. “It just… It scared me… I know that I shouldn’t be scared of the humans, but I…” ze shook zir head, unable to continue. 

“Albany,” Kiku’s voice was gentle. “You went through a lot tonight. You are still trying to sort through your thoughts. You need some rest.” The blond nodded. Kiku’s heart ached to see zem this way. “Albany,” Kiku said again to get zir attention. “Come here.” 

Kiku opened their arms to the alien. Still sniffing a little, Albany crawled up onto the bed and settled hesitantly down into Kiku’s outstretched arms-- letting the wood nymph hold zem. It was a tad awkward at first, Kiku had to admit. Albany’s form was so much larger than Kiku’s own.

But the two figured it out. 

Soon, Albany had tucked zemself snugly under Kiku’s chin, shaking against them but gradually quieting. Albany’s arms reaching out to wrap around Kiku’s waist were a surprise that they initially tensed against, but then relaxed into. In a mutual embrace, the alien and the wood nymph drifted asleep. 


	9. Chapter 9

Kiku found the act of waking up in the morning as a human to be an inconveniently disorienting process.

As they regained lucidity, they first noted that they were cozy and warm. They felt their heart rate and breathing pick up to a normal rate, crossing the line between asleep and awake. A calming, even noise could be heard without opening their eyes. It was the sound of rain against a glass window, and of cars slowly moving about business. There was another sound, too-- another even one. 

Kiku’s heart skipped a beat, now very awake. 

They opened their eyes, flinching at the sudden realization of where they were. 

Albany was holding them in zir sleep, arms limply cuddling them to zir chest. Zir face was buried in the crook of Kiku’s neck, the sound of zir humid breath now seemingly deafening. Kiku was tense. They weren’t sure how to detach themself from the alien without awaking zem. 

Albany, seeming to sense Kiku stirring on some subconscious level, shifted closer to them, a hand sliding under the back of Kiku’s shirt as ze instinctively sought out warmth. 

Zir lips brushed against the skin of Kiku’s neck. 

Kiku, throwing away thoughts of politeness, forced themself out of Albany’s arms. Naturally, they only managed to tumble backwards out of the bed as they did this. The alien made a confused “Mm?” sound at the sudden movement that disturbed zir slumber. 

Kiku sat on the hard floor, wide-eyed and stunned. A hand touched their neck where Albany had. A chaotic tempest of thoughts and feelings registered very little. 

Meanwhile, Albany was sitting up in the bed, confused. “Kiku?” ze asked, peering down at them. Zir voice was raspy from sleep, zir hair was a mess, zir pastel-colored pajamas had little green aliens on them, zir blue eyes were bright and innocent in the gray light draining in from the outside. Kiku tried hard not to think about zir hand barely skimming beneath their top, fingers feeling like live wires against their skin. 

Kiku tried hard not to look at zir lips. 

“Good morning,” Kiku managed to greet zem weakly, not moving from the floor.

“Morning. Whatcha doin’ down there?” ze cocked zir head to the side. 

“I fell.”

“Oh. You alright?” 

“Of course,” Kiku answered, breathless as they peered up at zem. The two found themselves staring. 

“So what time do you have to be at work today?” Albany asked. “What do you want for breakfast? I’m becoming rather good at this whole human food preparation thing. They have a lot of instructions on the Internet. Very wonderful resource.”

“The coffee shop opens up at 6 in the morning. I am to be there by 8:00,” Kiku recited to their companion. Albany reached for a plastic digital watch boasting the American flag and bald eagle. 

“Oh. It’s 9:30.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, but hey don’t worry! I have Pop Tarts! They’ll be ready in no time and we can take them to go!” Albany reassured. “You can go get ready for work and I’ll go get those ready for you!” Albany told them. 

 

Kiku had to walk close to Albany to avoid the rain. The alien had invested in rain gear as one of zir first preparations for human settlement, ze told Kiku as the two made their way through the city. 

The rain gave a new shade of color to the city as it slicked the streets. Humans hurried along, head down, hoods up, colorful umbrellas clutched fiercely. All of them clearly had things to do and places to be-- viewing one of nature’s most precious gifts to life as nothing more than an inconvenience. 

Albany did not view it as such. 

Ze proudly held zir umbrella aloft as ze took special care to step in every puddle with zir bright yellow rubber boots. The two munched on artificially-flavored fruit pastries as they hurried down the street. Ze talked to Kiku all about umbrellas and the water cycle, but was so easily captivated so many times by the world around zem. So many times ze would trail off mid-sentence and comment about how beautiful something was. From pointing out all of the different colored umbrellas to car oil making rainbows in the puddles, Albany adored the little details. 

Albany hesitated outside of the coffee shop once the two arrived, gawking open-mouthed up at the rolling gray clouds once more before Kiku gently pulled zem inside by the wrist. 

The fantasy of pulling Albany to them by that wrist and kissing the chilliness from the outside away right there in the cafe flashed through Kiku’s mind. Blushing red, they released their companion. 

Thankfully, they weren’t given much time to dwell on it because Gilbert Beilschmidt made an indignant squawk at the sight of Kiku showing up at this hour. “ _ Kiku _ !” the albino human gasped, breathless from busying about covering nearly every duty in the coffee shop. “Where have you  _ been _ ?!” Kiku looked to Albany at their side. Gilbert waved it away impatiently, not caring enough to wait for the answer. “Just  _ get back here _ , alright? Please? The customers want  _ your _ coffee and tea. And  _ someone _ has to help clean tables.” Gilbert cast a pointed glance over at an individual that Kiku was not familiar with and who was busy conspicuously flirting with a customer.

Kiku took their usual place behind the counter, making the drink requested of them by the next customer in line. Gilbert took the opportunity to breathe. “I apologize for not arriving on time. I slept in, which is… unusual for me,” Kiku told him. 

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Gilbert said, still out of breath and clearly lying. “But hey, you’re here now. And I appreciate that you went and got some new clothes. It’s an awesome look for you, Kiku.” 

“I’ll say,” cooed the person who had been flirting with the customer, now leaning across the counter to get a good look at Kiku. The individual extended a hand. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am France Bonnefoy and it is my  _ pleasure _ to make your acquaintance,” the person shook Kiku’s hand and dropped an eye in a wink. 

“Yeah, this is France. Our local creepy old person that smells like cheese,” Gilbert elaborated. France gasped in mock hurt, pressing a well-manicured hand to their chest. Gilbert smirked. “Also one of my best friends. I called her up this morning when we were short-staffed, but he agreed to stay the whole day. And in case you didn’t notice the button, she prefers alternating ‘her/him’ pronouns.” Introductions finished, Gilbert hurried away to start with the chore of sweeping under tables. 

Albany was standing a little ways away, not sure what was expected of zem at this point. “Albany, you are more than welcome to assist about the cafe,” Kiku gently suggested. Albany perked up at the assignment. Gilbert blinked over at the two, looking between Kiku and the alien. 

“Who… Who is this?” Gilbert asked. “I mean. We’re perfectly glad you’re here, but, I don’t know if I can afford to--”

“Oh, you don’t need to pay me! I’m hanging out with Kiku!”

“Not… working?”

“Yeah! And because my purpose is to be here with my tree friend, I am also not loitering! I can spend money for goods and services if you want?” Albany told him. 

“I…” Gilbert looked conflicted. “Well, Kiku  _ is _ working… and so long as  _ you’re _ not-- and I can’t pay you and you can’t work without pay-- I don’t know if--”

“Come now, Gilbert,” France interrupted, sidling up to Albany and sliding an arm over the tall alien’s shoulders. “Can we keep…” France inconspicuously glanced at the button that Albany remembered to wear. “Zem?” she finished confidently, giving zir shoulder a squeeze. Albany openly stared at France, mesmerized by the attractive, flirtatious, and unusual human. Kiku looked away, making some coffee for another customer. Gilbert ran a hand down his face. 

“I guess!” he decided, throwing his hands up in the air. 

“ _ Fantastique _ !” France rejoiced. “Would you care to share a coffee with me,  _ mon ami _ ? Perhaps we can learn a little more about each other,  _ non _ ?” Kiku’s heart felt like it was painfully inflating within their chest as Albany vigorously nodded zir approval of the proposal.  _ It’s only coffee _ . Kiku scolded themself.  _ Why does it hurt? _

Kiku made the coffee with milk that France described and then the high-calorie concoction that Albany had found ze enjoyed. Kiku found it hard to make eye contact with their friend. “Call for me if you need me, Gilbert,” France called over his shoulder as she led Albany to a table away from most of the customers. 

Albany, clutching zir cup carelessly as ze spoke animatedly with France, nearly tripped over a table in zir distraction. “Wow! This is so cool!” Albany was saying. “Where do I even start?” France laughed gently along with zem. 

“How about we start with telling me a little about yourself, yes?” France suggested, leading zem to a table out of Kiku’s earshot with a delicate hand pressed to zir lower back. Kiku tore their gaze away from the two and took another order from a customer. 

Gilbert stopped by once the customer had gone. The human leaned against his broom. Kiku looked up at him. “Yes?”

“You look glum,” Gilbert decided. Kiku blinked. Gilbert sighed and leaned a bit closer across the counter. “Is it because of France getting coffee with that Albany person?” Kiku didn’t reply, but their blush was answer enough. Gilbert broke into a grin. “Aww, does Kiku have a crush?” Kiku moodily blew some stray hair out of their face, not caring to be teased by this human. “C’mooon. You can tell meee!” Gilbert whined, his wide smile betraying his enjoyment of the situation. Kiku was not enjoying the situation. 

“Albany and I are friends,” Kiku said slowly, carefully. Gilbert grasped onto this morsel of information greedily. 

“Okay, okay! I get it! You’re friend-zoned!” Kiku stared at him, then he elaborated. “Albany doesn’t see you as anything more than a friend, does ze? Or doesn’t want to be more than friends?” Kiku considered this. 

“Actually, Gilbert, I am not certain that your statement is accurate,” Kiku flushed red at this realization. They knew, of course, that Albany shared similar feelings for Kiku. However, Albany had deemed it too difficult to act on such feelings given zir circumstances. There was  _ some _ truth to Gilbert’s definition of ‘friend-zoned’, but Kiku didn’t think labelling it as such would be entirely correct. Albany was just avoiding romantic entanglements. So, Kiku told him, “Albany is not looking for a relationship at this time, but I have reason to believe that my own feelings are requited.” And yet… 

“Then why is ze having coffee with France?” Gilbert’s observation mirrored Kiku’s thoughts exactly. 

“Perhaps ze doesn’t understand this gesture of having coffee is being used as a means of courtship,” it came out as more of a question. 

“How could ze  _ not _ realize that France is trying to make a move?” 

“Ze doesn’t understand people sometimes,” Kiku said defensively. 

“Ah. So you two are just made for each other, then, aren’t you?” Kiku did not reply. Gilbert gave them a sympathetic smile. “Hey, good luck with that. I’m sure it’ll work out fine. Make your move, tiger.” Gilbert winked and walked away.  

‘ _ Make a move. _ ’ Humans were utterly unhelpful. 


	10. Chapter 10

Kiku was given a lunch break. They were bone-tired. Something about having to constantly deal with the general populace and watching Albany spend the entire morning never tiring of speaking with France effectively sapped all of their energy. 

They needed some time to think. They needed some time  _ away _ . They needed to  _ not _ watch Albany’s face light up time and time again at whatever France was saying.  

Kiku stepped outside of the cafe and onto the city sidewalk alone. The rain had let up, the sun beginning to peek through the clouds. The air was still stiflingly hot and humid. Wading through the thick atmosphere made Kiku’s clothes stick to them unpleasantly as if the situation was not suffocating  _ enough _ . 

The air was not clean from the rain as it should be. It smelled of the city. It smelled of car exhaust. Water ran brown with filth in the gutters before disappearing into gurgling drains. Soaked sandwich wrappers and napkins were plastered at regular intervals to the floors of alleyways. 

Kiku crossed the street, ignoring honks from disgruntled drivers. 

The dog park was devoid of dogs and humans. This was due in part to the rain and in part due to the yellow police tape surrounding the length of it. “The dog park is temporarily closed due to maintenance. We apologize for any inconveniences,” read a helpful sign. Lucky for Kiku; they were certainly not in the mood to deal with any humans at the moment.

Their sakura tree stood alone in the dog park, green and dripping from the rain. They went to it, staring at it as if it were a stranger. This had been Kiku’s home; this had been  _ Kiku _ for years. Its branches curved over them, seeming to reach out to them in recognition. Kiku did not reach back. 

Instead, they slumped against the trunk of the tree for support, not caring that the mossy, wet bark was soaking into their new clothes. They ran a hand down their face, wondering how they had become so entangled in human (and otherworldly) affairs. This was not their world. Looking around themself, however,  _ their _ world was gone. 

Perhaps if they stuck with Albany, despite the complicated feelings that the alien evoked and refused to recognize within Kiku, then perhaps they could help zem find zir ship. It would help their newfound friend and it would give zem the ability to locate Kiku’s family for them. Then, perhaps, all of these wrongs would be righted. Reunited with their family, perhaps they could  _ reclaim _ the world that was once theirs. 

It was wishful thinking at best. Kiku let their head fall back against the sakura tree, closing their eyes for a brief, blissful moment of relative peace. 

“KIKU! HEY, KIKU! WHATCHA DOIN’?” Albany hollered, running across the dog park and waving zir arms to get the nymph’s attention. Kiku sighed through their nose and straightened up. Albany stopped in front of them, panting. “Are you gonna spend your lunch break as a tree? ‘Cause, I mean, I’ve got some money. We can grab sandwiches and come back here and hang out with your tree if you want? But I mean. Only if you want. You’ve been so busy lately, you probably just wanna spend some time as a tree, but I mean  _ if you want _ \--” 

“Albany,” Kiku stopped zem gently. “I would be glad to grab a sandwich with you.” Albany’s smile returned. 

* * *

 

Albany, as per usual, filled the silence with aimless talk as the two walked to a little place just down the street. Albany did not mention France; ze was too busy speaking of sandwiches. Kiku tried to listen, they honestly did, but they were exhausted. “Did you learn anything from France?” they interjected, a tad more firmly than they had intended. Albany stopped mid-sentence. 

“Oh! Yeah! France was really cool! He is  _ both _ a man  _ and _ a woman! How totally awesome is that?! Human gender expression is a _ fascinating _ topic, actually, and she was totally chill with talking to me about it. Did you know that he prefers to present herself as either a man or a woman or otherwise as he wants? Gender roles in human culture are a lot more prominent than I’d originally thought from my studies, but France breaks all of them and  _ I _ think it’s super neat! Also, she thinks that I do the same thing by ‘not being gender-binary-conforming,’ but I think that’s kind of a weird way to put it ‘cause I don’t think it’s that I’m a nonconformist, it’s that I literally cannot relate to--” 

“ _ Albany _ ,” as interesting a figure as France seemed to be, ze had failed to capture Kiku’s meaning. “Did France tell you anything useful about finding your ship? What is this “Area 51”? How can we be taken there?” 

“Oh. Yeah. That!” The two entered the sandwich shop, a bell tinkling happily at their arrival. “That’s really important!” Albany reminded both Kiku and zemself. “I  _ did _ ask about it! Don’t you worry! It’s just that… um… Well, we didn’t stay on the topic long. She was really interesting and was happy to share some stuff, so like. I… don’t have much… It’s a government military base thing! Very secret! And also he gave me a weird look when I asked if we could go there. So that means no! No, we cannot go there, like the Internet said. We’ll probably have to stick to the ‘breaking in’ plan.” So ze had spent that entire time speaking about France, it seemed. And had learned very little. 

“Albany, as I have said before, I am not sure that breaking in would yield the best results… Do you have technology superior to the humans’ that would aid you?” Kiku decided to ask reasonably. 

“Uh. Yeah. About that. Nope. Most of it is in my ship. I mean. I’ve got a homing device back at my pad. That’s it. We’d be going at this like proper humans! I mean, we’ve got  _ your _ powers, so maybe that counts!”

“Albany, you seem to forget that  _ I am a tree _ . I do not believe my assistance could be useful enough against... the Man,” Kiku remembered the term from his peace-loving days in the human world. Kiku looked away from Albany to decide which sandwich would best satisfy their need for sustenance. 

The little shop was mostly empty, slowing down from a lunchtime rush. A smiling face was waiting for the two behind the counter. Kiku regarded the human evenly, not thinking much of the fact that the joy did not reach his eyes. After all, few humans truly enjoyed working. The grotesquely-stretched, pearly white American smile was a commonality in all customer service workers, it seemed. Yet, Kiku could not shake a strange feeling about  _ this  _ particular worker. 

They, did, however, deem it unfounded and illogical. They were spending too much time in the human world; their senses seemed to be dulling to fit the impotency of those around them. Heightened senses were a survival mechanism in the forest for a nymph. Dulled senses were a survival mechanism in a roaring, toxic city for a human. 

The final customers in line ordered their food, then took it to go at the overly-polite insistence of the worker behind the counter who said that the shop would be closing soon for a routine maintenance inspection. 

There were no more customers left within the shop after the customers, giving each other strange looks of confusion, exited the cafe as instructed. Albany and Kiku stepped up to the counter, Albany automatically spouting off a complicated, meat-stuffed monstrosity. Kiku busied themself scanning the menu, but was then distracted by the nagging feeling that there was  _ some _ aspect about this setting that was  _ off.  _ They turned their attention to the worker, trying to place the source of the uncomfortable feeling. 

More customers began filing into the small sandwich shop, lining up one after the other behind Albany and Kiku in a sudden rush of business. Within a matter of seconds, while the customers all entered separately, the building was packed. The customers were deafeningly silent as Albany completed zir order. Kiku shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, realizing that they had forgotten to decide what they wanted for lunch. 

Another worker peeked through the window in the door to the back room out at all of the people, curious and hesitant. The worker stared at the man behind the counter, as if watching to see what he was going to do. What he was going to do…? The man was not doing anything.

Kiku placed the uneasy feeling, the realization clicking into place.  _ The worker behind the counter was not doing anything _ . The worker had immediately busied himself with preparing the sandwich described to him by the  _ other _ customers before they were sent away. The man behind the counter was standing perfectly still, smiling at Albany. 

Kiku glanced over their shoulder at the customers filling the sandwich shop. Silent. None of the casual chatting that was common procedure for humans. Every customer met Kiku’s eyes as they looked. Kiku turned back around, their hand sliding to slowly take Albany’s. “Having trouble deciding whatcha want?” the alien asked them, entirely oblivious and waiting for Kiku to order as well. 

The worker who had been trying to watch from the back room had disappeared. Silence. 

“On second thought,” Kiku said “I don’t think I want anything. We would not want to keep you from your routine maintenance,” Kiku addressed the man politely. He continued smiling. He nodded, expression staying the same. This man was functioning as a decoy. 

“You sure, Kiks? I mean, I’m gonna get  _ my _ sandwich, so you might as well…” Albany trailed off, tilting zir head like a confused puppy at Kiku’s expression. “Something wrong?”

“I think I should be getting back to work. Gilbert will need the help,” Kiku lowered their voice, mentally begging Albany to just go with it so they could get out of here. Instead of taking the hint and staying quiet, of course, Albany was visibly confused. 

“He has  _ France _ . This is your lunch hour. They’ll be fine. I think you need somethin’ to eat, though. You don’t look so good.” Albany turned around to smile at the next person in line, always being one to acknowledge the presence of others. Kiku looked with zem, scrutinizing the faces of the other customers. None of them smiled back at Albany. Ze didn’t notice; likely too busy musing about how neat humans were in zir own mind to notice such a little detail. The air felt charged, unpleasant. Tense. Albany did not notice. 

The two turned back around at the same time. 

The man behind the counter had drawn a gun. And was pointing it directly at Albany. Kiku’s blood ran cold as they flinched, gripping their friend’s hand tightly. Albany stared down the firearm uncomprehendingly, having no idea what ze had done to upset the sandwich maker. 

A collective rustle behind them. 

Every last ‘customer’ in the little shop had followed the man’s example. Some weapons were pointed at Kiku. Others were trained definitively on Albany. “If you could please put your hands up and get down on the ground,” the man demanded politely. Kiku put their hands up, tugging on Albany’s hand in an attempt to get zem to follow Kiku’s lead of getting  _ down _ . 

“What for?” Albany asked, tilting zir head. Ze looked around at those around zem. A cacophony of safeties clicking off and guns cocking at the movement. Ze unsteadily put zir hands up, dread starting to dawn on zir face along with the confusion. “What did we do?” Albany asked, voice rising in fear. 

“Albany,” Kiku warned. 

“No! I want to know what I did wrong! You’re supposed to tell people being arrested that! I know that! I  _ studied _ that!”

“Get on the ground first,” the man told zem through gritted teeth. 

“This isn’t some average, everyday procedure,” hissed an angry, tall, imposing human who stepped forward, striding straight towards Albany. Kiku’s heart leapt in their chest as they desperately tried to pull Albany down beside where they were kneeling on the hard tile floor. They weren’t strong enough to budge the alien. The alien, zir hand shaking between two of Kiku’s, stood tall and unsure of zemself as the human approached. The human stopped only a feet feet, within arm’s distance, of Albany. The two were of about the same height, but Albany was just frightened and searching for an explanation. This human was out looking for blood. Albany seemed to shrink before the imposing figure. “Who are you?” the human demanded, spitting a little. Albany looked flustered, but ze reached for zir pocket where ze kept the flowers ze still used for introductions. 

It was the wrong thing to do. 

Feeling threatened by Albany moving to dig for whatever ze may have had in zir pocket, the human drew zir weapon and pulled the trigger. Kiku cried out as Albany staggered backwards. 

The alien made a surprised noise, looking down at zemself where wire now connected zem and the ‘customer.’ Albany looked back up at the human, unaffected. The human’s face dropped, flushing pale. “What are you?” the human gasped. 

“Uh… I’m Albany! Is that a taser? Yeah, that doesn’t really work on me. Totally a human medical condition. Don’t worry about it. Oh. Also. Definitely don’t shoot me ‘cause my… medical condition,” ze turned downwards to wink at Kiku so that they knew it wasn’t  _ actually _ a ‘medical condition.’ Only, ze didn’t seem to get that ze was also alerting all of the armed humans as well. “It covers that too.”

“Are you saying you cannot be hit with bullets?” the human demanded, shocked and indignant. 

“It is  _ insensitive _ to ask someone about zir medical condition! Golly gee, guys! Learn some manners! I just want my sandwich, dudes!  _ And if you could stop trying to electrocute me it would be much appreciated _ !” Albany huffed. Kiku mentally willed zem not to do anything more stupid than ze already had. No one had been harmed yet, but the situation was poised to escalate-- none of the humans thrilled with Albany’s lackadaisical attempt at negotiation here. Kiku’s mind raced. What could they do? How could they protect Albany? Would  _ Albany _ be more capable of protecting  _ Kiku _ if ze was immune to human weapons? Ze clearly wasn’t lying about immunity to the taser, but was ze bluffing about the guns? Was cooperation the best option to avoid harm for them both? 

What could they do? They had used what Albany had dubbed their ‘powers’ to save zem before. What could tree parts do against  _ guns _ , though? Bullets could rip right through hastily-created bark. They had to do  _ something _ , though. They must be capable of  _ something _ . 

The wood nymph remained motionless, knelt on the ground as the humans pointed their lethal contraptions, holding Albany’s hand. Albany’s sweaty palm clutched to their hand like a lifeline. 

There was a ruckus outside. Some of the humans were distracted. Most were not, only tensing for orders to unleash death upon the two. Humans were such strange herd animals-- so easily commanded to destroy. 

Kiku tried to see past the crowd of humans, but to no avail. 

“Sir!  _ Sir _ !” a voice was yelling, muffled from the outside. 

“I am no ‘ _ sir _ ’,  _ imbécile _ !” came a venomous reply. “Who do you think you are anyway?” 

“France, maybe we shouldn’t… The coffee shop…” 

“Don’t be silly! You saw that this is where they went! Something is  _ wrong _ ! What is going on in there?” 

“Fine,” a familiar voice decided defeatedly, then broadened itself to its usual power. “You heard my friend! Let us through!” 

More yelling. Some scuffling. More guns being cocked. 

The humans inside the sandwich store remained focused on the two in their midst like the trained dogs they were. The leader that stood before Albany commanded that they prepare themselves. 

The outside door rattled. Locked. “ _ Scheiße _ ! You were  _ right _ ! That’s Kiku and Albany in there! HEY! WHAT’S GOING ON?!” 

The leader looked turned to look at the would-be interlopers, regarding the two coldly while officers in black tried to remove the two from the scene without drawing attention. The leader walked through the crowd of humans to the door, hands clasped calmly. “Let them in,” the human directed. The officers froze, confused, along with Gilbert and France. The human unlocked the door and even held it open for the two to cautiously enter, obviously made uncomfortable by all of the firepower in one room. “What… What is this?” GIlbert demanded to know, peeking around dark uniformed agents to look at Kiku and Albany. Albany waved good-naturedly. 

“You’ve seen too much. You will be taken in for questioning as well. You are familiar with these two; perhaps you will yield valuable information.”

“What? Wait…  _ What _ ? Oh  _ fuck _ no! And fuck you if you think that you can get away with arresting us for nothing! That is my employee! That is  _ all _ that I know! Seeing as Kiku is my only employee, and an awesome employee, what did they do? I demand to know what is going on! Are they some most-wanted list felon or something? What do you mean when you say ‘ _ we’ve seen too much _ ’?! This is ridicu--” 

The humans were effectively distracted. Guns were drooping with the effort of holding them up so long. All were too busy eavesdropping on the conversation between their superior and the intruders to actually be paying the harmless Albany and Kiku much mind. Kiku, breathing heavily with their panic, took their chance. 

The sound was like an explosion. 

Branches and branches and branches shot out from Kiku’s body, a thick canopy of leaves and pungent flowers shielded them and Albany from view. Humans shouted. Humans opened fire, shredding through the foliage immediately only for it to grow right back writhing like a thundercloud made of snakes. 

Kiku had already tackled Albany to the ground. Albany stared, wide-eyed. They didn’t blame zem; Kiku was more tree than human in that moment. “Albany,  _ go _ ,” Kiku hissed, their voice coming out sounding like the groan of an old tree shifting in the wind. 

“Not without you!” Albany told them determinedly, trying to reach for their hand once more, only to find that the flesh and blood had been temporarily replaced with wood. Kiku softened at zir expression for a single moment, reaching back towards Albany, their hand shifting into the humanoid form with which the alien was more familiar. 

Doing so had retracted a portion of their cover. 

Blinding pain lit up Kiku’s right half as they were thrown with the force of the bullets embedding themselves into their very vulnerable, very human form. 

Kiku was not sure if they screamed, only that their mouth was open and the air was ripped from their lungs. They were on the ground, the tile cold against their cheek. The air reeked of cut tree branches and flowers, but was now tinged with another, more metallic odor. 

Wet. It was wet under them, Kiku noted through the screen of pain that painted everything in a strange light. 

_ How strange it is to bleed _ , Kiku thought, staring at their humanoid hand now stained crimson. 

Arms were around them, then, Kiku was able to vaguely comprehend. A large form. Soft. Cradling them gently. It did not stop the pain, but there was now a second hand twined with their own.  _ Albany… _ Kiku tried to say zir name, but then they were racked with a vicious, wet cough. But then it became very difficult to breathe as they drowned in their own blood caused by the organ damage. 

Albany’s hand holding theirs. They were being moved, quickly, stumbling, jarringly. An alleyway. 

The sky. The beautiful daytime sky. The sun dared to steal a glance from behind the clouds. 

More hands. Not Albany. Yelling. Hysteria, confusion, panic. 

Albany. 

The sky. 

Nothing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you guys think so far! Thanks for reading!


	11. Chapter 11

“ _ What the fuck what the fuck what the ACTUAL fuck _ ?!” Kiku grimaced at the sound of yelling as they began to come to. There was an unpleasant taste in their mouth. 

“Shh,” hushed a placating voice. “Kiks needs the rest. Don’t wake ‘em up.” 

“What is going on?! What are you  _ doing _ to them?! What is this?! What am I getting into?! What have I gotten myself into?! And WHY WON’T  _ ANYBODY  _ TELL ME WHAT’S GOING ON?!” 

“Gilbert!” scolded a third voice. “Do as ze says!”

“HOW ARE YOU SO CALM ABOUT THIS?!”

“We have to recognize that  _ we do not  _ understand,  _ mon ami _ . We will understand soon enough. Also, I found enough wine to do the trick. How did you manage to purchase alcohol, Albany, dear? You look so young. And if I have this correct, you are not of this Earth, so where did you get the ID?” this was followed by a mildly hysterical laugh that was muffled by a glass. 

“Kiku? Are you up? Dude! This is the cool part, if you are! Wanna watch?” Albany asked excitably. Kiku forced their eyes to open, slowly, blinking at the world around them.  _ Tired _ . They were so tired. They stared blearily up at Albany.  _ Albany _ . Ze was so beautiful. They tried to reach out to zem, wanting to hold zir face in their hands, wanting to gather zem up and hold zem against their chest. 

They found, however, that they could not feel any part of their body below their neck. It was entirely numb. It was a surreal feeling, as if they were trapped in their own form. 

They looked down to better assess the situation, only for the sight to make them woozy and lightheaded. They were shirtless, exposing their wounded body to the room. The group was in Albany’s apartment, Kiku gave a moment of thought to. Kiku was laying on Albany’s couch atop blood-soaked towels. Yet, every other detail paled in comparison to the sight of their own injuries. 

Exposed tissue that Kiku could not force themself to continue looking at for fear of seeing their own organs through the gaping rents in their side-- four of them tracing the paths of four bullets. 

There were also silvery, glowing devices attached to them-- not of human origin. Albany was gently slathering on some thick, scintillating sort of cream around the open wounds as ze whistled a happy tune. “Hey there, Kiks. Watch that heart rate for me, won’t ya? I’m not going to hurt you. Pinky promise! You won’t feel a thing! Just you leave it up to Dr. Al here! This is super cool, though, so you can totally watch if you want to,” Albany reassured them. 

Then, ze pressed a button on a handheld device. 

Before Kiku’s eyes, their skin leapt as if it were sentient, weaving itself back together, stretching itself as cells duplicated almost instantaneously to properly mend their body. Albany watched Kiku’s quickened healing process proudly, happy to have helped. Ze looked up to the wood nymph, expecting them to be as fascinated by the unusual sight as ze was.

Instead, Kiku promptly fainted. 

* * *

The next detail that Kiku remembered was coming to a second time, the Sun creeping in through the blinds at a new angle.

The bloody towels had been removed out from under them. They had been given a soft blanket that obscured their still-bare chest from the world and warded away any chill. Kiku blinked around themself in the stillness of Albany’s living room. 

Albany. 

The alien was asleep at Kiku’s side, sitting back against the couch, head lolled back as ze snored loudly. Had ze been waiting for Kiku to awaken? Kiku hesitantly peeked beneath the blanket at their own body, pressing a careful hand to their side where the wounds had been. Smooth, flawless skin. No sign of injury. 

Albany had saved them. Kiku had no idea how all of them had managed it, but Kiku was  _ alive _ . Albany was here and Kiku was here and France and Gilbert had been here earlier. They had escaped. They had not been followed back to Albany’s apartment. Were they safe? 

Kiku looked down at Albany, zir mouth hanging open and zir face slack as ze drooled onto zir couch, and decided that it did not matter in that moment. Kiku ran a hand through Albany’s hair-- a silent  _ thank you _ . A silent  _ I’m glad you’re alright _ . 

Albany stirred at the feeling of Kiku gently stroking their fingers through zir hair. “Kiku?” Albany mumbled, half-coherent as ze began to wake up. Kiku hummed lightly in response. “You alright?” 

“Yes, thank you.”

“Didn’t mean t’ scare you back then. I thought you’d think it was cool-- sorry for freaking you out like that. That was a sucky thing to do. Guess you’re not as used to my tech as I am. I--” 

“Albany, thank you. You do not have to apologize for anything.” Kiku cupped Albany’s cheek as ze twisted around to look them in the eyes, ignoring the line of drool from the corner of zir mouth to zir chin. They leaned their forehead against Albany’s. “You saved my life. Thank you.” Albany had turned bright red. 

“Hey, dude. Anytime. No problem. Don’t mention it,” ze seemed to have trouble breathing. Kiku swiped their thumb across zir face with a wry smile, wiping the drool away from their silly alien’s face. Albany pulled away a little, embarrassed as ze scrubbed the back of zir hand across zir cheek to try to better clean it off.

“How did you escape?” Kiku wanted to know. Albany’s shy expression changed into a strained, worried one. 

“I-I picked you up and ran out the back door. It was hard to carry you and you were bleeding everywhere and I didn’t know what to do because I had  _ my _ anti-human protective gear on-- which is why they couldn’t tase me, by the way-- but  _ you _ were so vulnerable. And they were still shooting at us. And there were more officers in black that tried to apprehend you and me in the back alleyway. France and Gilbert found me running from them and helped me carry you. France says the officers probably weren’t even from anywhere around here; they didn’t know the alleys at all. But France and Gilbert did. We lost them. I thought for sure that they’d catch us at times, but they didn’t. We made it to my apartment and my tech up in my place interferes with the cameras-- humans can’t trace it back, though, don’t worry-- so they can’t know where we are that way. But Kiku, you were bleeding everywhere and your heart was so slow and we weren’t up in my apartment yet and you’d stopped breathing and you were coughing up blood and  _ Kiku _ I thought--”

Kiku laced their fingers with Albany’s as the alien spoke quicker and quicker as ze remembered zir distress. Kiku returned to caressing Albany’s hair, a gesture that seemed to calm zem to a degree. “Albany, shh…” Kiku tried to reign in zir fear. Tears slipped down the alien’s cheek one after another and Kiku’s heart broke. Kiku pulled at zem insistently until ze rearranged zir large self to be up on the narrow, ugly couch with Kiku. 

Kiku opened their arms to zem. Albany, shy and red once more as ze fought at the flow of zir tears, snuggled into the crack between Kiku and the back of the couch. As Albany was now essentially resting on top of Kiku, it wasn’t difficult to coax the alien to rest zir head against Kiku’s chest as they soothingly played with zir hair. “D’ya think they’ll find us here, Kiks?” Albany asked, voice raspy with emotion.

“We have escaped them twice before; we can do it again. They are only humans,” Kiku reminded zem. 

“Hey, that was real close both times,” Albany protested. “And scary,” ze added, nuzzling into the blanket separating zem from Kiku’s bare skin. 

“But I’ll protect you,” Kiku told zem in a tone that was playful with a meaning that was entirely serious. 

“And I’ll save you and be your hero because you can’t  _ do _ that on your own against them, Kiks.” Kiku smiled to themself. 

“Very well,” they agreed. 

The two laid in comfortable silence for some time as Albany’s breathing continued to even back out. Kiku entertained themself by growing petite flowers on their fingers to weave into Albany’s hair. It was well-adorned in the fashion of elven nobility with light pink blossoms, Kiku continuing to add more, when the alien peeked up at them. Shining blue eyes met brown. “Hey, Kiku,” Albany spoke up, voice trembling. 

“Yes?”

“I… I want you to know that I think you’re really cute, okay? Like. I think you know that, but I need to  _ know _ that you know that I think that. Also, I really appreciate you being my friend. You’re really cool and  _ also  _ really good-looking.” Kiku’s hands had stilled in zir hair. 

“Albany, what are you trying to say?” they asked quietly. 

“I…” the alien trailed off, but reached towards Kiku to smoothe a hand through their dark hair, the action pulling them marginally closer. “I… I was given some rules before coming here, but I… but you…” Albany’s face drew closer, testing if Kiku would shirk away. Kiku did not. Kiku met zir lovely gaze coolly even as their heart picked up its pace within their chest. 

Albany’s eyes flicked to Kiku’s mouth and ze did not look away. Albany’s fingers curled into Kiku’s hair and ze did not let go. Kiku’s hand slid from zir hair to rest on zir shoulder, the muscle flexing at the light touch. Ze sat up suddenly, burying zir face in zir large hands. “Kiku, I want to… Can I… Would you mind if I…”

Kiku sat up with zem, not paying any attention to the blanket that fell from their bare chest to pool at their hips. Kiku was gentle with zem, slowly taking zir hand and guiding it to their shoulder. Albany, fascinated by the smooth, warm skin, splayed zir fingers across the curve of the shoulder experimentally. Kiku held their arms open for zem. Ze came closer, breath audibly hitching as Kiku ran their hands over zir broad shoulders, massaging the tension from the muscle before draping their arms over zem to play with the hair at the nape of zir neck. 

The soft material of Albany’s cotton t-shirt, one that advertised America’s space agency, pressed flush against the bare skin of Kiku’s chest. Zir heart raced beneath the fabric, as nervous as Kiku’s. “I’m sorry I pushed you away before,” Albany whispered, large hands hot on the skin of their shoulders. 

“It’s alright,” Kiku whispered right back, looking zem in zir beautiful face, mentally willing it closer. Ze was silent for a beat, the tension accumulating between them until ze snapped. 

“Can I kiss you, Kiku?” ze asked in a rush of breath. Kiku’s heart dropped to their stomach, so they pushed themself closer. Lips were inches away from lips, heaving breaths mingling in the limited space between them, Albany’s hands pressed them nearer to zir body. 

“ _ Yes _ ,” Kiku breathed, already closing the remaining distance between their mouths. 

For a single, shining second, Kiku’s lips brushed against Albany’s. 

Then, there was laughing and the sound of two people noisily trotting up the stairs outside. The tittering, nasally giggle of France, the loud, raucous roar of Gilbert. _No._ _Not yet._

Albany must have had the same train of thought as ze suddenly pushed zemself forward, utterly determined. Kiku gasped at the firm press of Albany’s lips to theirs, melting into it immediately as the alien’s hands gathered them against zir body. The two came up for air at the same time, only for Kiku to kiss Albany once more, hands tangling in blonde hair and flowers. 

The doorknob rattled, locked. Then, the two outside knocked, calling out that it was just Gilbert and France. 

Kiku swung a leg over Albany’s lap, leaning the alien against the back of the couch as they kissed zem again and again. Albany didn’t protest, rubbing circles up and down their side as ze molded zir mouth to fit theirs perfectly. A shiver ran through Kiku as Albany sucked their bottom lip into zir mouth, sweaty palm over one of the areas of skin ze had repaired.

The knock came again, more insistent this time. 

“Kiku, I should…” Albany tried, Kiku hushing zem with one last peck to zir pink lips before touching their foreheads together for a moment. 

“I know…” they let their eyes fall closed for a second, revelling in the scent of Albany being so close, the feeling of Albany’s torso flush against their own, and the feeling of zir thick thighs beneath them. 

Then, Kiku climbed off of zem, a little awkwardly, and laid back down on zir couch as ze stood. Kiku pulled the blanket back over themself, now feeling uncomfortably warm, but not willing to leave themself exposed to Gilbert or France’s wandering eyes. Being  _ themself _ with the humans around was hardly something with which they were comfortable. 

Albany cast a look back over zir shoulder at Kiku, giving them a shy smile before opening the door for the humans. “ _ Took _ you long enough,  _ geeze _ ,” Gilbert complained. “Do you want the groceries or  _ not _ ? And what’s with the creepy-ass smile?” the albino grumbled. France smacked GIlbert’s arm.

“Be kind! Our dear friend appears to be in a lovesick daze,” the French person commented, then looked between Kiku on the couch and Albany standing before her. “Have you two been behaving yourselves?” 

Kiku nodded in the affirmative. Albany blushed, unable to meet the wood nymph’s eyes as ze followed their example and nodded too. France smirked knowingly. 

“Hello, Gilbert. Hello, France,” Kiku greeted from their position across the room. France gave a cheery wave. Gilbert offered a gruff ‘hi.’ 

“Don’t mind him,” France quickly apologized for Gilbert. “He’s still taking all of this in, you must understand…?” she placated. 

“Yeah,” Gilbert agreed loudly. “Why didn’t you tell you were a  _ literal _ tree fairy when I hired you?!” he demanded indignantly. 

“Wood nymph,” Albany and Kiku corrected at the same time. 

“Whatever! My point stands!” 

“I did tell you that I was a tree,” Kiku pointed out. 

“I thought you were  _ joking _ ! I thought it was some joke about being nonbinary!” Gilbert protested. 

“I’m sorry…?” Kiku decided to tell him. Gilbert waved them off. 

“So! The best employee I’ve ever had and the  _ only _ employee I have right now is a tree fairy--”

“Wood nymph.”

“ _ And their datemate is an alien _ \--” Kiku and Albany shared a glance. “--and now  _ I  _ can’t go back to my coffee shop without getting arrested for some consorting with the enemy bullshit or whatever! What am I supposed to do?!” Gilbert whined quite unpleasantly. 

“You could help me get my ship back from the humans!” Albany helpfully suggested. Gilbert sat down on the ground and yelled a bit. The group looked down at him sympathetically. “Anything to add, France?” Albany politely asked once Gilbert’s vocalization had ended. France shrugged carelessly, holding up the bag he was carrying. 

“ _ Je ne sais pas, mon ami _ ,” she shrugged with a stupid grin. “All I know is that I am drunk off my ass and I have more wine to continue the job. How can I be of help?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! Two updates in one day! I love productivity during breaks! Thanks for reading, guys!


	12. Chapter 12

“Okay, okay, I know-- Look, I know. I saw the news-- What? No, I’m not famous! Just because we’re on the news-- _Antonio_ , listen!” Gilbert paced back and forth in the living room while France made omelettes for everyone. “ _Bitte_ , I’m begging you,” he pleaded, running a stressed hand through his hair. “I need you to keep watch over the coffee shop… See if they’ll let you keep it open! I’ll split the profits with you however you like, but I can’t _lose that shop_. I-- _Antonio_ , listen. I’m _trusting you_ not to not to tell anyone anything.”

“ _Mon Dieu_ , I’ve never seen him so stressed. It’s unbecoming of him,” France commented, scooping up another omelette from the sizzling skillet to dish out onto Kiku’s plate. Kiku cut the masterfully-spiced egg creation into pieces as France began preparing Albany a third one upon zir request.  

“Will we be able to leave the city safely? Do you or Gilbert know the way to Area 51? Will you both come with us or remain here?” Kiku asked, following questions with more questions as they were met with France’s blank stare.

She shook his head incredulously. “ _Mon chou_ , at this time I am making omelettes and watching the CIA announce my arrest warrant on national news despite-- they insist upon broadcasting the name I was given at birth to the nation along with the legal change, as if the dead name would jog someone’s memory of my whereabouts,” she gave the television a scornful glance. “So, no, I have no idea what will be done next, but I _will_ satisfy your partner’s ravenous hunger.”

“France, you’re a blessing,” Albany told him through a mouthful of egg. She smiled.

“Just say that you noticed that I was I wanted criminal but, as my best friend who hasn’t heard from me in awhile, you know that I’d want you to take care of the coffee shop while I’m being brought to justice. I can put it in writing for you or something. _Please_ , ‘Tonio…” Gilbert was saying.

Kiku picked at their food, not hungry despite the deliciousness of the meal before them. Albany scarfed it down with zir usual voracious appetite. France hummed, taking a swig of the bottle of wine beside her every time the news repeated for emphasis “FRANCE BONNEFOY, BORN____” and chuckling a bit hysterically as if this was some ridiculous game he was playing by herself.

Only Albany seemed free from the choke-hold of the anxiety and tension filling the room, too absorbed in a delicious omelette to focus on much else.

Gilbert hung up the phone. The ‘phone’ then turned back into an amorphous, silvery little pebble as the alien technology sensed that its use was over for the time being. Gilbert handed it back to Albany who played with it in zir hand until deciding that ze wanted it to become a bracelet. It obeyed. The human sat down hard in the third chair at Albany’s square table, holding his head in his hands. “Antonio is going to try to go into the shop for me,” he announced. He did not sound entirely relieved.

“Well, that’s good, isn’t it?” Albany offered. Gilbert sighed, putting his head on the table with a _thud_.

“How did I get into this mess?” he groaned.

“You met me and Kiku!” Albany helpfully reminded him. Kiku awkwardly reached over to pat the human’s back; most humans appreciated physical comfort. Gilbert did not indicate that he was comforted. Albany gave Kiku a thumbs-up.

“I REPEAT, THESE INDIVIDUALS ARE ARMED AND DANGEROUS,” insisted the television. Gilbert looked up at it with a glare. Kiku, personally, was unsure how any of them were ‘armed’ or ‘dangerous,’ but it would probably be a fitting persuasive technique for the easily manipulated human populace. “IF YOU SEE ANY OF THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE: GILBERT BEILSCHMIDT, FRANCE BONNEFOY (BORN--” France turned off the TV with disgust, taking another deep drink of wine.

“France, am I gonna have to take you to an AA meeting?” Gilbert griped, snatching the half-empty bottle away. France responded with a gesture Kiku presumed was very rude. Gilbert took a drink of his own from the bottle.

“I have cups if, ya know, you don’t feel like drinking straight out of the bottle,” Albany offered like a good and proper human. Ze was ignored.

“Albany,” Kiku decided to begin. “You mentioned having a homing device?” The alien nodded, admiring the ‘bracelet’ on zir wrist. “That means that you can communicate with other aliens, yes?” Albany shrugged.

“I mean, I can send out a distress signal so they’ll come runnin’ if I need ‘em. I can’t, like, text with my fam or anything. Intergalactic communication is _hella_ expensive, Kiks. Besides, my fam didn’t trust me _not_ to use it, so they disabled my texting _and_ calling capabilities,” Albany pouted. “But I’ve got the distress signal if I need it.”

“If we signaled the other aliens, would they be able to get your ship back from the humans?”   
“Sure! They could just, like, beam it up. Misplacing your ship is a pain in the glutes. Happens all the time! I mean, they’re _camouflaged_ into the surrounding environment. Invisible ships are hard to find, dude! So, you know how humans have a car alarm they can use to find their cars? I’ve got a button that’ll bring my ship _to_ me if I want! It’s just that… I left the keys in the ship…” This earned zem unimpressed looks from everyone. Ze put up zir hands innocently. “Hey! How was _I_ to know that humans would steal it?” Ze crossed zir arms unhappily.

Then France put the omelette in front of zem and ze brightened once more.  

“Does that mean you’ll need an alien locksmith if you locked your keys in your UFO?” Gilbert mused.

“ _Okay_ , first of all, Gilbert, it’s not an Unidentified Flying Object because it’s been pretty clearly identified as _my ship_ ,” Albany corrected through a mouthful of egg. “Also, it ain’t a _car_! It locks behind me and then opens up for me when I want it to. Like, this thing!” ze showed off zir bracelet/phone/whatever. “It knows what I want! Telepathic link! _Duh_!”

“Wait, a link? With your _brain_?” Gilbert wanted to confirm.

“Yep!”

“Could not the humans trace the link back to you if they detect the minuscule reading on the electromagnetic spectrum?” Kiku asked.

“Nah, they’re not that smart.” This didn’t exactly reassure anybody. “But speaking of my homing device! If I _did_ use it, they could probably detect _that_ right away-- it’s a strong signal!”

“But we’d get backup if you called up your alien buddies?” Gilbert was beginning to see Kiku’s train of thought. “And it’d be all too easy for you to get your rocket back?”

“Spaceship, not a rocket,” ze reminded him. “But yeah. That’s the idea. I don’t know, though… It’s only supposed to be used for emergencies…”

“How does this NOT QUALIFY AS AN EMERGENCY?!” Gilbert’s voice cracked with his hysteria.

“Like, _grave danger_ emergency,” Albany clarified.

“Kiku nearly _died_!”

“I fixed that!” Albany said defensively.

“I’m on some kind of FBI’s Most Wanted List! They’re gonna take my coffee shop! They’re going to arrest me or shoot me or _both_! Or maybe they’ll wanna do experiments on me and then _shoot me again_!” Gilbert fretted, tugging at his hair in distress. Albany did not look convinced.

Kiku gently reached out to touch Albany’s hand across the table. The alien shyly looked up to meet their eyes. Ze had egg on zir chin and, somehow, on the tip of zir nose. “Will they help us if we summon them?” they asked quietly.

“I don’t know!” Albany finally admitted. “They’re gonna be angry they had to come save my sorry butt, though. And they’ll show up worried sick about my safety, thinking I’m _dying_ or something. Then they’ll be angry again because I’m not dying, but the humans managed to get my ship… Not all of them _like_ Earthlings or think they’re as cool as I do, so I don’t know if they’d help you find your family, Kiks. Or if they’d bother to adjust every human’s memories so that they don’t have to deal with the idea that aliens exist and just invaded their planet to pick up a stupid college student…”

“What was that about adjusting human memories?” Gilbert asked.

“Oh yeah. If they do that, which they might or might not-- depends on how lazy they’re feeling ‘cause it takes quite a bit of recalibrating brainwaves and stuff... You won’t remember me when I leave. Or maybe you will. You just won’t remember that I was an alien. The police won’t remember either, if it makes you feel better. Also, you won’t remember that you don’t remember, so it’s alright!” Albany reassured. Gilbert looked concerned.

“Oh thank _God_!” France sighed. “I say we call them right away!” Kiku was not so sure anymore. Albany’s hesitance concerned them. As did the thought of _forgetting_ Albany. Even though they certainly weren’t human, would they _really_ be overlooked?

“Maybe we can try to get it back on my own first…?” Albany proposed.

“How?” everyone asked simultaneously. Ze looked like a deer caught in headlights. Ze spluttered a bit.

“I don’t _know_! This is _your_ planet! You know how things work around here, not me!” Nobody was buying it. “Hey, Kiku was talking about fairies and non-corporeals. Maybe they can help us! Know anyone who can manipulate matter and energy? You know… do magic? What better way to get into a human establishment like Area 51?” It seemed reasonable to Kiku. Summoning the aliens did not, perhaps, seem to be the best of plans.

The humans, however, did not seem to think magic was such a plausible idea.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Gilbert rubbed at his temples. France reached for the wine. Gilbert swiped it away from her in favor of stealing a drink for himself. France gave him a withering look; the albino shrugged with a smirk.

“I am still in favor of calling your alien friends and erasing my memory; it will be a way to forget that will be much kinder to my liver,” France announced to the group.

“C’mon,” Albany stuck zir lip out, giving everyone puppy dog eyes. “You mean _none_ of you know any magicians? Wizards? Witches? Sorcerers? I bet we could even make due with an alchemist or poltergeist!”

They all looked around at each other... Except for France, who was pointedly avoiding eye contact with anybody. All eyes turned to him. She sighed in defeat, throwing his hands into the air. “Oh, _fine_! So _perhaps_ I am familiar with a man who _claims_ to be into such things! But he is nothing more than _crazy_ , I am _positive_!” she insisted, jabbing his index finger against the table for emphasis.

“Many humans choose to pursue illusions, rather than true magical arts, for entertainment purposes,” Kiku pointed out in France’s defense. “Others are simply delusional.”

“Dude, I’ll take it!” Albany clapped zir hands together gleefully. “I don’t wanna call up, ya know, _the others_ unless absolutely necessary! I don’t wanna get in trouble! I don’t wanna get _you guys_ in trouble if they’re not happy about having to rewire your human brains either!” That didn’t sound particularly pleasant. The humans had similar thoughts. They decided to go with France’s lead for the time being.

* * *

 

France and Gilbert’s grocery run had consisted of more than buying food to stock Albany’s home for more people; the two had also been in charge of buying Kiku some new changes of clothes as their new outfit had been ruined by blood, bullet holes, and rips from their transformation.

France had taken it upon herself as his personal mission. She had tried to ask Kiku what they would _like_ to wear, but quickly learned that Kiku was not one for human fashion. He came back with a varied selection of outfits beyond what Kiku would ever think to put on their body. She also attempted to explain which article of clothing matched with what when the time came for Kiku to change out of Albany’s large t-shirt that ze had loaned them.

Kiku did not understand the human customs of ‘matching’ anymore than France told Albany ze did. Kiku stared down the array of clothing, struggling to recall France’s tips. Everyone was waiting on them to finish getting dressed so that the group could leave. There were very nice colors on each item that Kiku could appreciate. Perhaps France had done his job _too_ well. How was Kiku to choose? It was all _human clothing_ to Kiku.

However, one of the articles of clothing intended to cover their lower half-- depicting white flowers against solid, sky blue fabric-- caught their eye. Kiku liked flowers _and_ the sky. They decided it would do. After that, they grabbed the next thing their hand came into contact with-- a loose-fitting, silky white blouse that slumped off of one shoulder no matter what Kiku did. Frustrated, confused, and hoping their choice was the _correct, human_ choice, they hurried out to where the others were surely becoming impatient.

As it turns out, nobody was impatient to leave Albany’s apartment and face the potential danger.

 _Everybody_ turned from their seats in Albany’s living room to look at Kiku when they reentered the room. They shuffled uncomfortably under the gazes. They must have made the wrong decision--

“Huh. You’re wearing a skirt,” Gilbert commented, raising an eyebrow, though not condescending or judgmental. It was more airy than the jeans had been, making them feel lighter. But if it drew the attention of humans, perhaps it would not be the best choice of clothing…

And then Kiku’s eyes found Albany’s. Yes, they decided. It was worth it.

“You match so well! It looks cute on you, dear,” France praised. “Shall we go?”

Outside, it had begun to rain once more as the sky decided it was too heavy to bear it. France led the way with the umbrella, the four of them keeping their heads down and hoods up in case any humans had seen the news. Kiku, without a hood, felt exposed as they constantly smoothed down their billowing skirt.

Albany kept them close to zir side for the comfort of them both. Ze was nervous as ze hurried along after France, not going out of zir way once to step in a puddle with zir boots. Kiku took zir hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Albany smiled over at them, cheeks a little red as ze swung their hands happily between them.

Suddenly, the alien leaned over and pressed a sweet kiss to Kiku’s cheek.

France glanced over his shoulder at the noise it made and smirked at the two despite both looking the other way and pretending nothing had happened.

Albany turned back to Kiku with a huge wink and a grin once France wasn’t paying attention anymore. Kiku smiled shyly back at zem, touching the cheek that Albany had kissed with a blush. Neither of them could stop smiling after that.

France led the group in the opposite direction of where the dog park and the coffee shop stood infested with government officers. She still insisted that it was better to stick to alleys and other alternative routes.

The four sloshed through filthy rainwater saturated with urban backwash. France peered inconspicuously around a corner, scanning for police before beckoning the others onward. This street was narrower, the tall buildings casting them all into shadow as they slogged through the muck of the concrete swamp.

“He lives above his shop down this way,” France addressed all of them as he picked distastefully at her wet clothes that clung uncomfortably to his body.

“Why the hell did this guy set up shop in such a sketchy place?” Gilbert asked, not appearing altogether comfortable with his surroundings himself as he looked around at the dark, empty street.

“Gilbert, your business is adjacent to a _dog park_ ,” France reminded him with a sniff.

“It is a classy establishment!” Gilbert cried indignantly. France came to a halt in front of a dark, dingy storefront boasting a buzzing green neon sign informing passersby that it was open for business. Metal bars lined the door and windows. A faded, creaking, dripping sign adorned with a crystal ball, a skull, and a spellbook named this store “Kirkland’s: A Shop for Curiosities of the Metaphysical.”

“What a dump,” Gilbert commented, still a bit ruffled by France’s jab about the dog park.

“Fitting for the owner,” France assured her friend as he stepped inside, a tinkling bell announcing their arrival.

The smell of dust hit Kiku immediately. Albany sneezed.

Seemingly random objects lined a dark maze of shelves, dimly lit by a chandelier made to look like skulls hanging above them and the occasional flickering candle making the shadows leap sinisterly. Many objects crudely resembled magic-casting devices, but Kiku did not recognize a single genuine artifact. Some objects were intended to channel ghosts or other spirits, but perhaps the humans did not realize that the spirits, for the most part, simply did not _want_ to speak with the humans anymore than Kiku did. Kiku was unsure as to what possible purpose the preserved viscera floating in slimy jars could serve. Leather-bound books so old the cowhide was flaking held yellowed pages that weakly claimed they could tell anything more about the supernatural ways of the world than the pathetic ‘magical’ paraphernalia that surrounded them.

Kiku wondered if _they_ would belong on a shelf in this store-- likely the only example of something humans would deem ‘magical’ to be found here.

“Well, well, well. What are you doing back around here, frogface?” A blond human appeared at the top of a staircase overlooking the store. The human stopped upon seeing Kiku, Albany, and Gilbert. “The frog has friends?” he asked in mock surprise, not intending to be rude to any of them except France. The human descended the stairs. He pointedly ignored France Bonnefoy as he stuck out a hand towards the next closest person-- Gilbert. He offered a smile.

“The name’s Kirkland. Arthur Kirkland. You wouldn’t by chance be here to buy anything… _magical_ … today, would you?” he asked the entire group sans France.

“ _Oh_ , Arthur. Don’t you know by now that _nobody_ wants to buy your, ah, _curios_?” France flicked the nearest knickknack-- a crystal skull-- with thinly veiled disgust. “Perhaps _trash_ would be a better fitting word, _non_?” Arthur Kirkland sighed deeply.

“What is is that you _want_ , then, frog?” he spat without looking at the human addressing him. France tossed her head defiantly. Kiku watched their companion with interest; France’s body language had changed entirely upon the appearance of Arthur Kirkland.

“To ask a favor of you,” France answered. Arthur Kirkland wheeled to face him, incredulous.

“You must be _joking_! You come marching in here with your _attitude_ , I haven’t heard from you for _weeks_ , and you have the _temerity_ to request a favor of me?!” Arthur ranted. France raised an eyebrow, stopping him in his tracks. He sighed again, running a hand down his face and dropping the act. “What do you want, France?” he asked, tone significantly gentler but still grumpy.

“Have you seen the news, Arthur?” France inquired, stalling. Arthur Kirkland gave them each a strange look, the gears turning in his mind.

“No…” he admitted slowly. “Why…? Is there something I should know…?”

“You will know it soon enough,” France brushed it off hurriedly. “ _Now_ … my friends Kiku and Albany here have a question about your… your _magic_.” Arthur immediately went on guard, expression distrustful.

“What are you playing at, frog? What is this?” he growled, assuming he was being made fun of. Kiku stepped forward.

“Arthur Kirkland,” they addressed the human. “We require a magical connection. France is acquainted with _you_ , so we came here. Do you have magical abilities?” Arthur looked as though he felt trapped.

“W-Well I-I-I…” he cleared his throat, composing himself. “What do you mean?” he asked lowly.

“We need help!” Albany piped up. “We think you can help us! But we need magic!” ze tilted zir head to the side. “What kind of magic can you do?”

“W-What? Help with what? I have… Well, I admit I have... _dabbled_ in magical arts as a hobby of mine…” his eyes flitted nervously around his store, convinced this must be a joke but praying desperately that it was not.

“I need help infiltrating a government base!” Albany told him trustingly. “It’s called Area 51! The humans have taken my spaceship and I think that magic may be the only way to get it back safely!” Albany smiled at him with so much hope in zir eyes. Arthur squinted.

“This is _rubbish_. Frog, what the _hell_ is this? What’s on the news that I haven’t seen? Some online _trend_? I will _not_ be the brunt of another _stupid_ joke!” he thrust a finger up under France’s chin threateningly. The two humans would normally have been the same height, but France’s shoes-- which seemed to be elevated with tall spikes on the heels-- gave her the advantage over Arthur for now. Arthur Kirkland turned on Kiku, Albany, and Gilbert. “Now who are you?” he demanded to know. “I recognize _you_ ,” he told Gilbert. “You own that coffee shop by the dog park, yeah?”

“That’s me,” Gilbert confirmed with a rather proud nod. “You come in quite a bit, don’t you? I thought you were an author, though, not a storekeeper,” Gilbert shamelessly displayed the knowledge of his regular customer, deeming the moment appropriate to be using the familiarity as a business tactic to keep this angry human returning to the coffee shop that Gilbert may or may not continue to own.

“I write,” Arthur acknowledged. “I’ve got a few things published,” he added on for good measure, his gaze wandering back over to France. “I also own the store. Can’t seem to manage to scrape together good pay from writing alone.”

“Ah, yes. I’m sure this store supplements your income _so much_ ,” France retorted sarcastically, unimpressed with Arthur’s attitude as he admired her well-manicured fingernails to avoid the human’s eyes.

“ _Shut it_ , frog,” Arthur hissed. “You still haven’t answered my questions! Who are you and what do you want?!” Albany raised zir hand, a tad hurt at Arthur’s disbelief but trying not to take it to heart.

“I’m Albany!” ze dug a flower out of zir pocket and held it out for Arthur to take. Arthur took it from zem with two fingers held far from his body as if it might be poisonous. “Albany F. Jones!” ze clarified. “And I need help finding my spaceship! I’m an alien, by the way. You’re not supposed to know that, but I guess it’s fine if you can do magic. We’re in trouble. It’s on the news!” Arthur opened his mouth, about to say something nasty to the alien judging by his sour, unconvinced facial expression when Kiku stepped in front of zem.

“And I am Kiku, friend of Albany. I am not human either; I am a wood nymph.” Kiku held out their hand, palm up, towards Arthur and willed flowers to bloom on every last inch of the skin. “I would show you my tree form, but I doubt you would appreciate a tree in the middle of your shop.” France and Gilbert sniggered at that, Albany releasing a cute little giggle.

Arthur crossed his arms. “I’ve seen better tricks on the prank shows on TV.” Kiku looked at the flowers that had _literally_ just grown before Arthur’s eyes on Kiku’s hand and back up to Arthur. Humans were so _skeptical_ … or maybe merely thick-headed. Albany tapped their shoulder.

“Hey, Kiks! Do that one thing where you’re, like, _half_ tree and you always defeat all the bad guys!” zir eyes sparkled excitably. That could work.

Kiku took a deep breath, closing their eyes as they concentrated on the form they wished to take. Skin, with a sensation akin to an itch, hardened to bark. Their arms and legs elongated, branches sprouting from the limbs as well as their torso. Smiling a little to themself with a sound of wood creaking, they willed even _more_ flowers to bloom on their form. They were careful not to rip their new clothes. It was an unfortunate drawback to creating a new tree form or morphing somewhere in between tree and human as they were now-- clothes did not simply _disappear_ along with their human form like when they passed into their sakura tree. This did, however, create an effect they decided they approved of-- the grotesquely changed human form still wore their cute skirt and top, making them somehow look even more ghastly for Arthur Kirkland.

They looked around, vision unaffected despite the rest of the changes having taken place. Arthur backed up in a panic, spurred from his shock, when Kiku’s gaze fell on him. Albany looked at them as if they were the coolest thing ze had ever seen, mouth open in a wide grin. Kiku plucked a flower from their arm and handed it to their alien. Ze gleefully tucked it behind zir ear.

The humans were staring.

“Albany and I need your help, Arthur Kirkland,” Kiku said, their voice rasping like wind through leaves and groaning like an old tree shifting. It had the effect on Arthur they were looking for. France slung an arm over his companion, halting Arthur’s backpedaling.

“So? What do you say, Arthur?” France asked. Arthur’s eyes still seemed as if they were trying to escape his skull.

“Perhaps this would be a good conversation to have over tea,” Arthur Kirkland squeaked.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, folks! Here's a long chapter :)

Arthur Kirkland knew how to prepare good tea. Kiku sat sipping it in a chair next to Albany as the alien pouted beside them; ze preferred zir tea to be iced and sweetened.

Arthur, meanwhile, was becoming increasingly stressed as he read through the local news on an e-book tablet. Gilbert wandered boredly around the store, poking at particularly weird-looking objects. France pretended to be very interested in her nails and most certainly _not_ watching Arthur out of the corner of his eye. “I’ve always known _magic_ exists,” Arthur told the group after he’d read all the media offered, returning to the dusty seance table that functioned as their seating. “But _aliens_?”

“Hello!” Albany waved at him.

“And… the government… _knows_ about all this? And is treating you as armed and dangerous criminals?” Arthur summarized.

“The humans seem to know about the presence of _aliens_ , as they found Albany’s ship. _How much_ they know or what they are assuming is unclear. They view my friends and I as threats to be apprehended…. especially me after I revealed to them that I am not human,” Kiku explained. “But they recognize that Albany and I work together and that Gilbert and France know _something_.” Arthur nodded thoughtfully.

“And _what_ exactly would you like me to do to help you?” he asked.

“Use your magic to help me get my ship back!” Albany clapped zir hands together happily, glad this seemed to be going well.

“What… _sort_ of magic are you thinking, Albany?” Arthur asked slowly, clutching his tea to him.

“Oh, ya know. Stuff that can get past the humans so no one gets hurt! Can you bring my ship _to_ me? Like, summon it? Or can you make yourself invisible and walk through walls to get my spaceship? Or make us _all_ non-matter so we will not be affected by humans as we strut right in and get my ship back?” Albany threw some ideas out there. “But really, _you’re_ the magician! I wouldn’t want to take away any creative freedom you could have in this,” Albany assured the wizard.

Arthur steepled his fingers on the table. Everyone was silent as they waited for his answer. “Yes, um… Very… Very good suggestions, thank you,” he began. Albany smiled at him encouragingly. “It’s just that… Magic-wise… You see, I’m a _self-taught_ wizard, you must understand; I don’t have the _best_ materials at my disposal for these sorts of things… Um… And I feel you should be aware… I have never actually made a spell _work_ ,” Arthur finished. France scoffed.

“ _Why_ did we even come here?” he demanded dramatically. “He has no idea what he is _doing_! He is no more of a magician than _I_ am.”

“Hey!” Arthur protested. “Look here, froggy! Just because the spells have not _worked_ does not mean that I have never cast _magic_! I am of firm belief that I _have_! Just… Not the magic that I _wanted_ to happen.”

“That’s alright!” Albany put in before France and Arthur could begin arguing. “He’s still a magic-caster! I’m sure we could use that! Maybe this will be the first time that he gets a spell to work, right? Right!”

“Albany, I know you have a good heart, but _listen_ : he is nothing more than a sad, lonely crackpot! He cannot help you get your ship back,” France insisted.

“‘Sad’ and ‘lonely,’ eh? Oh that’s _rich_ coming from _you_ , Bonnefoy!” Arthur stood abruptly.

“Dudes, cut it out!” Albany interjected. “We can make this work! We have to at least _try_!”

“I do not have the best sense for magic,” Kiku added quietly. “But I can tell when there has been magic cast in an area-- it leaves a unique aura. The Fair Folk taught me how to see it when they lived in our forest so long ago.” Arthur perked up at the mention of the fae. “Arthur is not lying. He is not delusioned. There was magic cast above this store-- your living quarters, is it not?” Arthur looked like he may faint, too many questions that Kiku may be able to answer for him arising at once. Instead of fainting, he nodded.

“Yes! That’s-That’s where I practice my spells!” Arthur’s eyes gleamed with the excitement of his dreams beginning to be realized. France snorted.

“What was it you said when you were trying to explain your little hobby to me, Arthur?” she asked with a smirk. “That you gave a ‘new meaning to magic in the bedroom’?” Gilbert, lurking around the store but still listening, laughed loudly. Then he stopped. The albino’s head popped out from behind a shelf.

“YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED TO FUCK MY REGULARS,” Gilbert hollered, a grin plastered across his face regardless. France shrugged.

 _Oh_ , Kiku thought to themself. _So that’s how France is familiar with Arthur._

Ignoring Gilbert, Arthur replied to France. “Well, petal, is it a lie?” the wizard smiled devilishly. France only chuckled, spiting Gilbert by blowing Arthur a kiss.

Humans were so strange.

Kiku looked over to Albany. Ze was red. Ze met Kiku’s eyes. Both looked away in a hurry.

France laughed at Albany’s low-key scandalized face, throwing an arm across the alien’s shoulders. “Whatever is the matter, Albany dear?” he asked zem.

“Nothing!” ze blurted ungracefully. “So how can you help me get my ship back?”

“Hmm…” Arthur thought about it, now looking at this as more of a challenge to be conquered than a trap. “I have a summoning spell that I _believe_ could work. I would require something from the ship, though. Some sort of _thumbprint_ I can trace it back to… Any ideas?”

“A thumbprint?” ze pondered the idea, then snapped zir fingers. “Like the crop circle!”

“Exactly!” Arthur agreed. “That could work!” Kiku shook their head.

“The circle left by your spacecraft is too heavily guarded by humans,” they reminded Albany.

“Ze has that brain link thing,” Gilbert put in, approaching the table. “Just use _Albany_.”

“Can you work with a telepathic link? Or maybe I count as a thumbprint thing anyway, right?” Albany gave Gilbert a thumbs up for the brilliant idea.

“I’ve never worked with a telepathic link before…” Arthur admitted. “But I could most definitely try. It sounds promising.”

“Arthur has _never_ made a spell work, _mes amis_ ,” France sighed. “Is it even _safe_ for him to be using _Albany_?” There were nods all around the table. Eyes turned to Arthur questioningly.

“Well… I… I don’t think I’d _hurt_ Albany…” Arthur said in his defense. He paused. “I certainly wouldn’t mean to anyway…” he amended. “I’ve never hurt any living creature before! Not even myself!” he added, not wanting to dissuade them.

“I’m down for it!” Albany told the group. “Let’s do it now!”

“Wait… What about my shop…?” Arthur looked around fretfully.

“ _No one ever comes in here anyway_ , Arthur!” France groaned.

“But I can’t afford to miss any business that _does_ come in,” the wizard pointed out.

“Neither can I, yet here I am,” Gilbert chipped in. “But, I can hold down the fort for you, magic man.”

So, as Gilbert kicked up his combat boots on the store counter next to the cash register, the other four followed Arthur upstairs. “Please don’t rob me,” Arthur felt the need to say to all of them. “You know, seeing as you are ‘armed and dangerous criminals’ that I am advised to report on sight... and this is by far the most far-fetched thing I’ve ever been convinced to go along with and that’s coming from someone who practices _magic_ ,” he chuckled nervously. Maybe Arthur felt better for speaking his mind, though likely not because everybody chose to ignore the statement.

Arthur opened the heavy wooden door to his bedroom with a skeleton key.

“Ah, this way, Albany,” Arthur beckoned. The wood floor creaked in protest at any weight put on it. Arthur had a large four-poster bed near a window, cracked open to let in the smell of the rain. Gossamer curtains curled and shifted inward on the breeze like ghosts reaching out for the living. Arthur found no need to turn on the lights, deeming the gray natural light sufficient.

Rain pattered gently against the glass, cars hissing through the water outside.

“Lucky for you,” Arthur was saying. “I’ve actually been working on my summoning spells lately, so there’s a higher chance than usual of this succeeding,” he assured them with obviously faked confidence. Perhaps he was trying to convince himself rather than his guests.

“Very convincing,” said France sarcastically. The human sat on Arthur’s bed with a tired sigh, kicking off his uncomfortable high heels and leaning back in an almost lackadaisical manner, still making efforts to maintain her decency in his dress.

“Why don’t you go back downstairs with Gilbert?” Arthur growled in her direction.

“Because _somebody_ has to sit here and look pretty,” he sassed. “Perhaps my constant nuisance will insure that you don’t kill my friend.”

“I won’t kill Albany!” Arthur stomped his foot in frustration. He looked at Kiku and Albany. “I won’t!” he repeated for emphasis. Kiku took the alien’s hand protectively.

“Have you been inside the spacecraft, Kiku?” Arthur asked them. Kiku shook their head. “Then I’m afraid I’ll need to ask you to step away from Albany here,” he instructed gently. He seemed to be treating the wood nymph carefully, clearly wanting to question them about the magical world they knew after this was over with, but knowing that he wouldn’t get the chance if he made a mistake. He was also likely terrified that, should he make a mistake, Kiku would not only refuse to answer his questions, but also _attack_ him in the form they had revealed to him. Then, there were also the brief glances he kept throwing at France. He did not want to make a mistake in front of France _either_ , but Kiku suspected that was for different reasons.

Arthur’s hands were shaking as he hefted a gigantic tome from its place on a nightstand. “Albany, I will need you to stand at the point of this pentagram,” he told zem, gesturing to the five-pointed star encapsulated in a perfect circle that was chalked on the floor. Albany obeyed, admiring the chalk between zir feet with fascination. Arthur slipped thick, bejeweled rings on each of the fingers on one hand. He flipped through the spellbook, already familiar with the correct location.

Kiku fidgeted in discomfort. Magic had been cast in this place, they knew. The air was thick with the feel of it. It did not _quite_ have a smell or taste, but it nevertheless perfumed the atmosphere with its strange acidity. None of the others noticed a thing. It would not be detected on any human instrument either. Their sense of it was not as acute or discerning as one of the fae or even perhaps an older, more experienced wood nymph, yet they instinctively did not like this human’s magic-casting. While it was _magic_ , it was _different_ than the magic of the fae. _Arthur’s_ magic that he conjured with his human lack of grace was not _natural_ or _wholesome_. Kiku had never been exposed to such a thing, but they were beginning to wonder if what Arthur Kirkland dabbled in was what was referred to as  _dark magic_.

Then again, they reminded themself, the fae’s “light magic” could be used for mischief and, in the endless legends the naughty creatures liked to tell, even evil. Would it not make sense, then, that dark magic could be used for good? Yet, at what consequence?

Albany rocked back and forth, excited to see what would happen.

Kiku and France were tensed for the worst, both with objections to this madness on the tips of their tongues. Neither said anything.

“I’m going to need you to stand still, say nothing, and concentrate on that psychic link you’ve got with that ship, alright? Easy enough?”

Arthur started chanting.

The acidic remnants of magic in the air crackled as if with static, causing the hair on Kiku’s arms to raise. Kiku saw France shiver with goosebumps. Perhaps humans were not quite as unperceptive as they thought. Arthur carefully and quietly articulated the words he read from the page, fingers splayed before Albany as if electricity darted between them. His hand was no longer shaking.

Albany watched the human before zem, intrigued with his actions and completely trusting. Kiku clenched their hands at their side, standing near the alien yet feeling completely distanced. They considered going to sit and fret with France on the bed, but they could not force themself to move.

Arthur’s face contorted with concentration as he continued on, reciting the words more forcefully, voice rising in volume. The air felt _alive_ around Kiku, positively _hissing_ with the unnatural energy. It made no sound, yet the tension of the moment drowned out all but Arthur’s words.

Abruptly, the wizard reached out to touch Albany’s face-- two fingers to zir forehead. Arthur continued reading, relentless as the alien’s eyes fell closed. Kiku’s fingernails dug into their palms.

There was a flash of green light and both Arthur and Albany fell backwards, shoved apart like two repelling magnets. Albany flailed clumsily, catching zemself on zir hands. Arthur took a knee, eyes wild.

Silence. The feeling of magic was gone. Nothing had happened.

Albany was the first to say anything as ze began giggling uncontrollably. “ _Dude_! That was whacky!” was zir comment. Ze looked around. “So, like, is my ship… outside or something?” Arthur shook his head.

“No. The connection wasn’t strong enough. It might have to do with the distance between us and the ship. I need more, a stronger connection… but I can do it. _That_ was a _summoning_ spell!” He stood up, pointing to Albany in jubilation. “I cast a _summoning spell_!” Albany offered some applause. “I-I-I just need a stronger connection and I can summon the ship back!”

France relaxed his muscles, recovering from the moment of tension and back to spoiling Arthur’s moment. “What do you mean ‘stronger connection’?” she asked, unimpressed. “What could be a better ‘connection’ to the spaceship than the pilot zemself?”  

“ _More_ of a connection. This is a difficult spell,” Arthur said, running a hand through his hair as his thoughts raced. “Like, for example, more ‘fingerprints.’” He paused. “Just _how bad_ are our odds of getting into that crop circle?”

“Very bad,” France informed him.

“It’s in the middle of a wooded area, which may be to my advantage if it was not likely heavily guarded by humans with guns,” Kiku explained.

“ _Trees_ are around _too_? Oh, this is beautiful! There’s this prevailing theory that wood holds memories, like with ghosts and magic. It would be an even stronger area for me to work,” Arthur very much resembled a pyromaniac given access to a fireworks stand and matches in that moment.

“That does not get us into the woods, though,” France pointed out in annoyance at Arthur’s ignoring of the ‘heavily guarded by humans with guns’ portion of Kiku’s explanation.

“Oh!” Albany raised zir hand. “I can get us into the woods probably!” Ze proudly displayed zir bracelet for everyone to see. “I can make _this_ into an INVISIBILITY CLOAK! Alien camouflage, dudes! Blends perfectly into our surroundings just like my ship does. Whattaya think?”

“I think your ship still got stolen,” France blew some hair out of his face.

“Sure, but they can’t see it! We’d be _invisible_ not invincible. They could still shoot at us; I can’t make this thing bulletproof. BUT they wouldn’t be able to target us properly, now would they?”

“They’ve probably got thermal scopes, though. They’ll still be able to see us through our heat signatures and target us like that.”

“Not under my _invisibility cloak_!” ze held it aloft once more. “It doesn’t _just_ cover visible light, _geeze,_ guys. We aliens aren’t _amateurs_! We won’t show up on infrared cameras. This thing deflects all sorts of rays!”

“I don’t think this is a bad idea,” Arthur praised, patting Albany on the shoulder. Ze beamed.

“That only gets us into the forest,” now it was Kiku’s turn to play the naysayer. “How will we be able to perform the summoning spell with the guards there even if we are invisible? They will hear us and see the chalk lines, will they not?”

“Simple,” Arthur shrugged. “We take out the guards.” France blanched. A knot formed in Kiku’s stomach. Albany looked confused.

“Like on a date?” ze blinked, confounded at the idea.

“No. We incapacitate the guards, perform our spell, and make our getaway on your ship,” Arthur summarized.

“Incapacitate? How? Dude, I don’t wanna hurt anybody,” ze said, offended.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. I think I have some spells that might do the trick,” Arthur waggled his fingers. France rolled her eyes. “But _first_ … Can I just say that you are the worst fugitives I have ever seen?”

“How so?” Albany demanded to know, wanting to be the _best_ fugitive Arthur had ever seen. Arthur tapped a few times on his tablet, then turned it around for them all to see.

Images of Albany, Kiku, Gilbert, and France stared out at them. Gilbert and France’s must have been taken from some form of photo ID, Albany and Kiku’s came from lesser-quality camera footage taken from inside the sandwich shop. Arthur scrolled to another news site. This one had _more_ camera footage of _all_ of them from earlier that day. “France, Albany,” he addressed the two. “ _You’re_ even wearing nearly the same clothes. Same with Gilbert. Are you _asking_ to be apprehended?”

“We’ve been a bit busy being hunted by police,” France huffed. “Gilbert and I got away with a brief grocery store outing due to pure necessity. Kiku needed clothes, Albany needed more food. I wasn’t going to spend zir money on _myself_ or even _Gilbert_. And it’s not like we could make a pitstop at _home_ to grab an overnight bag! They have our addresses!” Arthur waved him off.

“No matter. We _should_ alter your appearances, though.”

* * *

 

“Honestly, I used such a dramatic color palette for every photo they have of the magnificent _moi_ that I doubt they’ll even recognize me sans makeup,” France chuckled as he washed her face in Arthur’s bathroom. “I _do_ wish I had my contouring kit; I could do more masculine lines. Maybe I could have improvised some false chin stubble. I was rather feminine-presenting today and the day I got that driver’s license photo they keep flashing everywhere. It tends to catch people off guard when I flip it on a dime.”

Arthur hummed, not one for input about makeup. “Will it make that much difference if you keep traipsing around in that dress?” France shook his head, toweling off her face.

“That is _precisely_ why I intend to go through your closet, Arthur. We wear approximately the same size. Where is that suit that fits you so nicely?” France stepped up to the wizard, their faces close.

“Mm…” Arthur thought about it. “As much as I adore seeing you in suits, frog, you will take my one good monkey suit for a hike in the woods _over my dead body_.” France pouted, running a hand over Arthur’s arm.

“You’re worried that I won’t bring it back,” she laughed at him.

“Well, am I ever getting my _sweatshirt back_?” Arthur scoffed. France leaned in closer, lips tantalizingly close to Arthur’s. The wizard didn’t budge.

“Never,” France mused, grabbing a handful of Arthur’s backside before whirling away to scan through the man’s closet. Arthur let out a breath. “I’m also going to steal some shoes. I am _not_ hiking through the woods in heels.”

Kiku and Albany, meanwhile, sat on Arthur’s bed, watching the humans interact with some interest. Arthur noticed now.

“What are you two looking at?” he grouched, smiling a little crookedly.

“Be kind,” France reminded him absently, scooting article after article of clothing aside.

“What about you two, though?” Arthur asked, not acknowledging the other human. “You’re the start of all this madness. We should definitely make an attempt to hide you.” Kiku and Albany looked at each other.

“I think Kiku is perfect the way they are!” Albany said decidedly, taking the wood nymph’s hand as they blushed. This earned an _aww_ from France, muffled by his head buried in the closet. “Plus, they already changed clothes.”

“Kiku _is_ rather inconspicuous as they are. Maybe they can get away with it. _You,_  Albany, on the other hand… Well, you-- in a good way, of course-- stick out like a sore thumb.” Kiku had a feeling that both statements about each of them could be taken offensively. Albany looked down at zemself.

“Whattaya mean? I’m blending! These are bona fide human clothes! And I even changed shirts!” France looked over at zem from the closet. Then, she decided that the situation called for him to come over.

“Alright, Albany dear. Let’s go over this together, _non_? Jeans, very common! _Très bien_! Now… the rain boots… Ah, I’m sure we can get away with those. Your raincoat even matches!”

“It came in a set!” Albany held zir head up proudly.

“Very wise of you!” France humored zem. “Further, I must say that I admire your… _pride_ , but… perhaps the rainbow “Gaylien” t-shirt _stands out_ a bit in a crowd.”

“It’s a splash of color! Plus, it’s funny because nobody knows I’m _actually_ an alien.”

“... Right…” France was reaching for a way to gently suggest another option. She looked up at Arthur, at a loss.

“Would you be considered _gay_ , though?” Arthur asked, perplexed. “You’re with Kiku, right? Are you… Does that count as the same gender?”

“Arthur, that’s not important!” France sighed. Then he thought about it. “Both of you being gender nonconforming does not necessarily mean you are the same gender. It can be a broad umbrella term…” They all thought about it for a bit, though Kiku was not sure how it was at all relevant.

“I’m a _tree_ ,” they reminded the others. “I do not think it can be said that I _have_ a gender.” France and Arthur nodded. Both looked at Albany. Ze shrugged, hands up.

“I dunno, dude!”

“Is it gay if they’re different species?” Arthur pondered.

“They _are_ both humanoid, regardless, so I think they could be,” France decided. “Do either of you have _concepts_ of gender, not being human and all?” she asked.

“I am a tree. My family also consists of trees.”

“I dunno! It’s kinda whatever, dude.”

“But does that mean it doesn’t _exist_ or it doesn’t _matter_?” France wanted to know.

“ _Anyway_ , I don’t think hypothesizing about whether the alien is gay or not is a productive use of our time,” Arthur interjected.

“You brought it up!” France protested before getting back to business. “Now. About the giant baseball belt buckle… On a Superman belt, I should add…”

“Belts keep your pants up. And belt buckles are cool! The bigger, the cooler is how it works, right?”

“Perhaps in… _some_ spheres…” France acquiesced. “But not in most areas of human society. I would advise against the belt and buckle if we are working towards inconspicuous…”

“Listen, critiquing the alien’s fashion sense might help a _little_ but are we going to ignore that ze is absolutely gigantic and has this long, flowing mane of blond hair? Are we pretending that what ze is wearing is less recognizable than _that_?” Arthur butt in.

“What would you suggest, then, Arthur?”

“I’ve got a pair of scissors somewhere in this bloody place. I say cutting the hair drastically and _then_ focusing on less conspicuous clothing would make the significant difference you’re looking for.” Kiku looked over at their alien companion, trying to imagine zem without zir long hair. Arthur, however, had a valid point.

“What do you say, Albany? I’ve given haircuts before. Arthur can attest to my skills,” France proposed very gently. Arthur shrugged reasonably. Albany looked shocked, staring down at zir hair.

“Well,” ze said, uncharacteristically quiet. “If you think it’ll help, dude.”

Within minutes, the humans had set Albany down with a sheet over zir clothes and on the floor below zem. France stood at the ready with some scissors as Arthur went to check on Gilbert and see about making _him_ less easily recognizable-- seeing as the man was startlingly white with equally startling light eyes tinged with red.

France’s scissors snipped, the first blonde lock fell to the floor, and Albany started tearing up. Kiku took zir hand, wiping away tears from zir cheeks. “Albany, whatever is the matter?” France asked, bewildered. Ze shrugged, sniffing pitifully.

“I dunno… I like my hair…” Kiku squeezed zir large hand, then leaned over to press a kiss to zir cheek. The humans had all seemed to have figured out the existing affections between the two anyway.

“Well, perhaps you will love this style even more, _non_? You can always grow it back in time, _mon puce_.”

“Why are you calling me a flea in a different language?”

“It’s an endearment in French, Albany.”

“It doesn’t seem nice to call someone a small parasite.”

“Ah, that is fair enough, but it is _French_. It sounds nice in French, because everything sounds beautiful in French, _oui_?”

France kept zem talking as he snipped away locks of zir hair. Getting Albany into long conversations was not difficult. Albany was still not keen on the idea of losing zir hair, but ze was really glad to talk about how neat Earth was.

Also, when asked, ze said that ze was not allowed to talk about zir home planet with humans even if the humans were nice. Ze couldn’t afford a lower grade on zir assignment for college. After all, this _was_ an educational trip. “Why did you choose to come to Earth anyway?” Kiku asked zem, absently playing with zir hands. Albany shrugged.

“It was an option. It was _there_. Seemed cool. So, I mean, why not?”

“Not reconnaissance for an alien invasion to take over our planet’s resources?” France joked.

“Dude. I’m in _college_ ,” ze huffed. “Like, c’mon. Most of us that come here are just students. A few hundred aliens show up on your planet and suddenly you guys are all ‘ _oh, this must be an invasion better ready our totally lame nukes_.’” Albany waved zir hands around in the air, mocking silly violent humans. “Dude! Really? Like, this is just my education, okay, France? Taking over planets for their resources? That’s like, _career_ stuff.”

France was silent and still for a few long, drawn-out moments. Kiku could not imagine why. It seemed rather reasonable to Kiku.

The human continued to cut Albany’s hair without another word.

After Albany was surrounded by a halo of golden locks, France led zem to a mirror.

“ _Dude_!” Albany’s hands went to zir hair, touching at it in fascination. “DUDE!”

“Is it worth the loss of your long hair?” France asked, ruffling the top of Albany’s head. “No more tears, correct?”

“FRANCE THIS LOOKS SO COOL! KIKU YA GOTTA TOUCH IT!” ze bent over so the wood nymph could reach. Kiku petted zem with a small laugh.

“It is very nice, Albany,” they reassured zem.

“Ya really think so?!” Albany wanted to confirm.

“It looks ravishing on you,” Kiku told zem. France snorted at their word choice, but both Albany and Kiku ignored the human as the two stared into each other’s eyes.

Then Gilbert and Arthur came upstairs.

Kiku blinked in surprise. France burst into laughter. Gilbert now had red hair, a shade of which that was not wholly natural among humans but not recognized as _strange_. Gilbert Beilschmidt now also had brown dots along his nose and cheeks, drawn on with human makeup to resemble freckles. He also wore glasses which did not contain glass in the lenses. Gilbert slugged France in the arm for her laughter. “My awesome self has looked better!” he reminded all of them. “But I _totally_ look better than your average loser even when my natural beauty is not allowed to flourish.”

“ _Well_ ,” France snickered. “I will agree that you look more like a loser than usual. Arthur, he is still so white. Won’t it be obvious the freckles are faked?”

“It is true,” GIlbert agreed. “I am too beautiful to freckle. I burn in the sun like a sexy vampire.”

“Vampires don’t come out of the ordeal resembling lobsters.”

“You don’t know that,” Gilbert pointed out.

“I did my best,” Arthur placated, holding up his hands. “I am a wizard, not a miracle worker.”

“Speaking of your two’s status of existence,” Gilbert pushed forward with a passion. “How long were you going to let this go on before you _told your best, most awesome bro_ that you were dating one of my regulars?” he demanded of France.

“We’re not _dating_ ,” France scoffed as if the notion was silly. “We do, however… have an occasional--”

“Habitual,” Arthur corrected, rolling his eyes.

“--Mutually beneficial arrangement… sans strings…” France finished, shrugging lazily and dropping a wink towards Arthur. The wizard coughed.

“What? Is ‘fuckbuddies’ too crass for you?” he mocked.

“Why yes,” said France, staring at him evenly. “It is. I like to think of myself as more of a romantic than _that_.”

“Ah, yes. Nothing says romance like popping in for a spell after informing me you’re not wearing any underwear.”

“I WILL HAVE YOU KNOW, ARTHUR KIRKLAND, THAT I GO WITHOUT UNDERWEAR ON A REGULAR BASIS FOR THE FREEING ASPECT OF IT AND NOT FOR--”

“On that note!” Gilbert interrupted, leaning his elbow his friend’s shoulder. “Let’s go break the law!”

* * *

 

Albany could only make zir invisibility cloak so large. The group left Arthur’s store, Arthur reluctantly closing it down for the day with his heavy spellbook under one arm as he wheeled a small chalking machine along with the same hand. Even with appearance adjustments, the strange cluster would not fail to draw confused looks from passerby even in the strangest of cities.

However, there was no feasible way for the group to maneuver the crowded streets of the city under the invisibility cloak without being constantly bumped into.

That is, until they reached a point nearing the coffee shop where police presence in the area began to increase at a concerning rate. They ducked into an alleyway, Albany proudly fanned out zir invisibility cloak over the group, and they shuffled along careful to avoid being ran into by pedestrians, bicyclists, or motorists.

Albany, Kiku, Gilbert, France, and Arthur all huddled together under what felt like a thick bedspread. It did not allow for much elbow room, but it _did_ cover all of them.

Kiku was smooshed rather uncomfortably between Albany behind them and Arthur in front of them. It quickly became a stifling endeavor to waddle along the streets. Kiku found sweaty human bodies to be unpleasant, though they knew that neither humans nor themself could hardly control such an occurrence.

Gilbert accidentally elbowed Kiku several times in the side. France found it positively hilarious to press her back to Arthur’s front to tease the human in a way that was uncomfortable for everybody. It was not a pleasant experience.

Of course, Kiku found it significantly more agreeable when Albany stumbled over Kiku’s shoe and then steadied zemself with zir hands on Kiku’s hips as the group continued to walk so that it would not happen again. This made for a sensation akin to their heart warming within their chest. They placed a hand over zirs.

This could be over soon, they allowed themself to think. This conflict could blow away, its importance eroded by time. It could be resolved.

And then what? Once this mess was cleaned? Gilbert would have his coffee shop. Kiku would work there. Albany would still be on Earth. Kiku could be with Albany.

 _Kiku could be with Albany_. The two of them could visit the water treatment plant. The couple could hold hands and wander the streets, marveling at the human customs taking place in a convoluted web of rights and wrongs around them. The two could eat human food, could cook human food. Albany could finally show Kiku those cat videos on the Internet that ze liked to speak of. Kiku could lay against Albany and play with zir new short hair. Maybe they could even still put flowers in it.

Albany could help Kiku find their family. Kiku could be reunited with their siblings. Albany would love to talk to all of them. Maybe Kiku’s family would move back to the dog park, or at least the woods behind it. Kiku could visit them, could dance and roam and run between the trees as much a part of nature as anything else. Albany could come with them. Kiku could teach zem the ways of the forest, which they knew ze would love.

And Kiku could retire back to their tree sometimes. Albany could meet them there in the morning. Maybe Albany could get a job at the coffee shop with them.

But maybe Kiku could end the day at Albany’s apartment instead. Two inhumans, not bound by strange human courtship ideas.

Together.  

As beautiful and strange as anything else to be found in the universe.

But first Kiku had to deal with Gilbert’s elbow jabbing into their ribs once more, as the human-- while apologetic-- did not seem to be competent when it came to learning from his mistakes.

The material of the invisibility cloak was transparent to those that were under it. To those outside it the world continued uninhibited by an unusual group of individuals creeping along down the road under a blanket.

The group passed by the coffee shop. They avoided hitting any of the police stationed around it and the dog park across the street. The coffee shop appeared to be open, to which Gilbert gave a little whine of relief and longing. Customers warily flowed in and out, eyeing the police and scratching their heads about it.

The news did not cover the little detail of the coffee shop that Gilbert owned. Though how the boisterous, albinism-struck owner of the coffee shop could slip any customer’s memory was beyond Kiku. Humans were slow sometimes. Perhaps they had yet to piece the entire story together. Humans were also confusing. Perhaps the continued influx of humans were those wanting to know the gossip about the missing owner.

The dog park was on lockdown. Officers patrolled it inside and out. Police tape surrounded it.

Kiku’s sakura tree stood alone, overlooked.

The woods were less ostentatiously patrolled. Kiku assumed this was because the humans did not wish for the _true_ secret being hidden away within those dark trees to be revealed to the public. The officers did not want the true nature of the group’s “crime” to become known. No, the humans would stick to watching closely from the dog park-- where the incident of Kiku and Albany’s near-capture _had_ occurred-- and keeping an eye on the coffee shop and the sandwich shop down the street where the second altercation had happened.

The group was able to circumvent the fence of the dog park with no resistance. This did, unfortunately, happen to be the _long_ and _uncomfortable_ way.

The mud and grass squelched and sucked at their feet as they trudged along, leaving obvious footprints in their wake despite being _otherwise_ invisible. Kiku decided not to mention it. Gilbert did, though. “ _Psst_!” he hissed in a secretive, yet not at all quiet, whisper. “Albany! What the hell do we do if the police notice our tracks?!”

“Shh! The police could hear you if you’re not quiet!” Albany warned, causing everyone to make half an effort to silence their splashing and squishing steps.

“But what do we _do_? Do we have any awesome plan B to save my awesome self from being shot in the ass?”

“I’d imagine they’d aim for the head. Or kneecaps,” Arthur corrected helpfully.

“Uh,” replied Albany. “Let’s just try to not get seen, alright! Not getting seen is the best Plan A ever and having a Plan B is kinda scary for everyone, so let’s just assume it won’t go wrong!”

The woods finally, _finally_ loomed closer. Kiku was sweating, Albany’s hands were sweaty on their hips, and everyone else was sweating around them. Human forms were so messy. Sure, trees had sap and shedding leaves, but _trees_ did not have a sense of whether or not it was a discomfort.

The woods were darker, cunningly inviting them forward for shade as it stretched out its many tree branches towards them. Even from a distance, surrounded by perspiring beings, its earthen scent called to Kiku-- a refuge in this human conglomeration.

Gilbert and France slowed instinctively.

To Arthur, the woods represented an opportunity to prove himself and his magical abilities. A test, a challenge. He charged on, clutching his book to his chest-- no longer distracted by France-- subconsciously hurrying towards his chance as his chalk machine’s wheels made tiny indentations in the soft ground behind him.

To Albany, the woods were the last place ze had seen zir ship and, hopefully, for the sake of zir grade (and potentially the memories of those around zem) the forest was also the place where ze would get zir ship _back_.

To Kiku, the woods were home. It was the home of their missing family as well. It was the last place Kiku had seen any of them. If it would be where Albany’s ship would be returned, then it would also mean that Kiku reuniting with their family would occur soon.

To Gilbert and France, however, the woods presented nothing but an unnerving obstacle fraught with danger. Neither wanted to go forward with this mission to get to the crop circle, but both felt they had no other choice because both were so tangled up in these otherworldly affairs. Perhaps the forest _could_ possibly, maybe represent an ending to both of their troubles, but their shared human hesitance betrayed concern.

“Do not be afraid,” Kiku spoke to the humans. Gilbert and France looked at them as if expecting them to say more, but Kiku had nothing else to offer. They had assumed the humans would accept the soothing words without question. Eventually, the two turned back around.

The group delved into what remained of the forest Kiku had once known.

The Sun was slowly hidden from view by the tall trees like hands choking off an air supply. Perhaps that was a bit morbid. Kiku sensed nothing wrong, nothing ominous about this place, though by the tension present the humans (now including even the determined Arthur Kirkland, not one for dancing in the woods with a coven himself) the humans certainly _did_. However, humans usually felt that something was wrong when there was no present danger because humans were bad at sensing absolutely anything. In fact, this place felt far safer than the city ever had. And Kiku had been chased out of this forest by humans with guns who had grabbed Albany and later shot Kiku with guns.

The invisibility blanket felt more suffocating than it had before. Huddling under this piece of material in their natural element, Kiku was beginning to feel ridiculous. They wondered if the humans had felt this way in the city.

No humans in sight. Kiku wanted so badly to leave the cover of the blanket and move on ahead of the others, to scope out the terrain and and also to _breathe_. Yet, Kiku had no way of knowing if the meddlesome humans were monitoring the area with electronics or what-have-you. Thus, they stayed hidden and led the way from their unfortunate spot in the middle of the pack.

Deeper and deeper into the woods.

Everyone was still sweating and unpleasant.

France had cut out the ‘subtle’ teasing, now gravitating closer to Arthur to hold his hand, unnerved by the forest. Arthur gripped France’s hand tightly, spellbook under his arm, chalk machine bumping along ungracefully behind him.

Gilbert kept scratching at the freckles on his sweaty face, smearing them without realizing it. Kiku was getting better at dodging his elbows.

No police officers. Kiku spotted no mechanical equipment. They saw nothing but the forest around their companions. They heard nothing but the natural sounds of the woods and the sounds of their friends. It should have been comforting, but Kiku was at least expecting _some_ government agents patrolling the forest every now and again.

Then they came to the police tape.

It was further removed from the crop circle than it had been before, distancing the oddity more from any prying eyes. There were no humans watching the police tape. Strange. But convenient. Kiku pressed forward to move under the police tape, but then Gilbert hissed and elbowed them. Kiku squeaked at the impact, losing their graceful wood nymph footing. They glared over at the albino human, affronted. They were beginning to _suspect_ that the elbows were becoming purposeful based upon the sheer frequency of elbows-- a sort of silly human revenge for getting Gilbert involved in this without making the revenge obvious. They had not put it past their boss, but had decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. But _now_ \--

Gilbert nodded upwards at a tree. Everyone followed his gaze.

A camera winked down at them from the branches.

Oh. Yes, perhaps the other elbows _had_ been accidental, then. Moving along.

Through a grand, coordinated effort, everyone managed to clamber over the police tape. Kiku wondered what the humans would think when they saw the police tape bending and wiggling and occasionally turning invisible and a couple feet appearing out of midair once in awhile. Either way, nobody jumped out of the shadows with guns, so that was appreciated.

The group carried on. Kiku could hear human murmuring now, very quiet but growing louder as they grew closer. There was also some sort of machine faintly beeping. They were not daunted.

Humans came into sight through the trees. The humans were busying around the clearing created by the crop circle, its intricate design undisturbed as the humans waved instruments over it. These humans were different from the humans in black they saw before. These humans wore white coats and rubber gloves. Some wore surgical masks in case the circle had some sort of alien toxicity to it. Most of the humans let the masks hang around their necks, trusting the instruments’ readings. These humans held no guns, only assorted scientific instruments. These humans chattered excitedly to each other whenever the instruments gave interesting readings.

A single muscled man in black stood holding a gun and a bored expression on the edge of the clearing.

“Dudes! They’re doing science! I love science!” Albany whispered. “Oh, this will be easy peasy! They’ll love to talk to me! Of course they’ll wanna see the ship! Oh, I bet they’ve never even seen magic before! They’ll be so excited!” Ze moved to reveal zemself. Gilbert stopped zem.

“Woah there, hot shot. Guy with a gun.”

“Oh,” Albany pouted. “I dunno about him.”

“Get me closer to him,” Gilbert sighed, seeming to be exasperated that he had to do all the heavy lifting around here. Even though Gilbert didn’t do too much.

“Oh, right! You can talk to him, right? Human to human!” Albany nodded understandingly.

“... Right. I’ll _talk_ to him,” Gilbert said. Kiku squinted at him. They were not good with human sarcasm, but they were averagely sure that that was not a genuine statement. They were not sure of this, though, so they did not mention it to the clueless Albany.

The ground shuffled relatively soundlessly through the underbrush. The man looked up at the rustling of the plants, but shrugged it off as wildlife because he saw nothing suspicious. Soon, there was a group of five people right next to him and he was completely unaware. Gilbert was directly in front of him, looking him up and down calculatingly.

Then, Gilbert abruptly punched him in the temple. The man crumpled.

Albany made a strangled noise of shock.

In the time that it took the alien to shriek a horrified “ _GILBERT_!”, the scientists looked up to find a man, materializing out of nowhere, pointing a large, menacing gun at them all. Albany covered zir mouth with zir hands. The scientists froze.

“ALRIGHT, EVERYBODY GET DOWN ON THE GROUND. I JUST WANT TO GET MY AWESOME COFFEE SHOP BACK. IF ANYBODY PRESSES A PANIC BUTTON, I’LL SHOOT GODDAMNIT ALL.”  

“We don’t have panic buttons!” wheezed one terror-stricken scientist. This scientist was then smacked upside the head by another scientist.

“Well don’t _tell_ him that!”

“Gilbert!” Albany protested loudly. “Stop it! They didn’t do anything wrong! That human didn’t do anything wrong!”

“Albany, do you want your ship back or not?! Hurry up and get this show on the road! NONE OF YOU TRY ANYTHING FUNNY!” Gilbert moved the gun in a threatening arc. Arthur scuttled forward with his chalk machine, quickly getting to work chalking out a summoning circle following the perfect example of the crop circle already there for him.

Albany knelt by the human who was knocked unconscious, willing zir invisibility cloak to turn into some medical tool to scan for injuries. Some of the scientists, despite being held hostage at gunpoint, took interest in watching the alien. “Is the blond kid the extraterrestrial?” one asked, visibly excited. Albany turned to smile and wave at the human. Then ze frowned unhappily at Gilbert. Gilbert sighed.

“Albany, if you go over and talk to them, they can try to use you as a shield so I won’t shoot,” he explained. “Then this whole thing will be for nothing, I won’t get my awesome coffee shop and my awesome life back, and you will be captured by the government. We don’t want that.” Albany pouted some more. So did the scientists. Kiku patted zir shoulder.

“Also, this guy is alright.” Albany patted the hair of the soldier. “He’ll probably be out for a while, though. You hit him _hard_ ! That was so _mean_ , Gilbert!”

“So is threatening people with a gun,” Gilbert pointed out. Arthur finished up with his circle and began with the lines inside. The scientists shouted in protest as he trotted over the surface of the crop circle.

“Sorry, lads! Gotta get the spell right!” Arthur shouted over his shoulder. The scientists went quiet. No one corrected Arthur that not all of the scientists were ‘lads.’

Albany propped the soldier up against a tree. His head lolled. Albany tried to adjust it so that he would not get a crick in his neck. It lolled the other way. Albany left it alone. Ze looked to Kiku as ze sat cross-legged on the ground, reaching a hand out for them. Kiku entwined their fingers with zirs. Ze looked tired. Zir smile put on for the scientists was strained. “Are you alright, Albany?” they asked, stepping closer so that only zem could listen in. They cupped zir cheek. Ze leaned into their palm, face squishing around it adorably.

That single persistent strip of hair still stuck up in the front despite the drastic haircut.

“Kiku, I don’t want anybody to get hurt. The humans don’t think what they’re doing is _wrong_ . They don’t _know better_ . Ya know, I don’t blame ‘em for just wanting to understand! We all just wanna understand! And I think it’s alright that they try to keep it quiet. They don’t wanna scare the others! Ya don’t want the ones that you love to be scared, so ya fight so they won’t be, ya know? That’s all they’re _doing_ … I just… I don’t want…” Ze sighed, shaking zir head in Kiku’s palm, turning so that zir forehead was pressed into it.  

Kiku sat down next to zem, letting zem rest zir head against their chest. Kiku stroked zir short hair soothingly, then made a flower grow for zem to have. Ze smiled.

Arthur finished up with the lines. “Oi! You two! This is my time to shine!” the wizard was practically bouncing up and down in anticipation. France scoffed, but he couldn’t hide her small smile even as he looked away from Arthur. “Albany, front and center, if you please,” Arthur called, giddy.

Albany removed zemself from Kiku to stand in the circle that Arthur made (which traced the circle that Albany made). Arthur grinned at zem, fingers fumbling with the pages of his spellbook. The captive audience was respectfully silent as Arthur took a deep breath to prepare himself.

Arthur began chanting. The entire forest seemed to hush like a theater for a performance.

Or, perhaps, like a canary ceasing its song in a coal mine.

The hypnotic rhythm of his low tone carried the same words, the same request, but it was different here. In this place. The forest was Kiku’s home. They had never experienced this feeling here.

Much like the crop circle, this magic did not _belong_ in this place. However, unlike the crop circle, which spoke of otherworldly affairs but was not inherently _wrong_ here, Arthur’s magic gave Kiku a feeling of unrest. The forest was for the magic of the fae, for the whispers of the spirits, a charming place for a family of wood nymphs to settle. Perhaps Kiku and Arthur would have to have a talk about his magic. Maybe they could seek out the help of the fae to assist Arthur in his hobby instead of… _this_.

For the time being, Arthur continued. His words became more forceful. His voice was raised. Albany rocked back and forth on zir feet, a little less entranced by how cool Arthur performing magic was this time around.

Then Arthur put his fingers to Albany’s forehead.

Ze suddenly stopped fidgeting as though immobilized by an electric current. Zir eyes did not close this time. Zir eyes rolled back to expose the whites in a ghastly way. Some of the scientists gasped. Kiku tensed. Something definitely _was_ different this time. They could feel it, like a distant rumble of thunder.

_It must be working._

Arthur Kirkland was panting from exertion as though he had been running, but he was set on finishing the spell. He had a madman’s gleam in his eye and a grin to match it. He could feel it working, was trembling with the power for which he was merely a conductor. The air, the forest, the universe, the fabric of reality seemed to groan like an old tree against Arthur’s ministrations. The wizard was unperturbed. And Albany remained motionless, taken by the spell. Kiku wanted to rip zem away from the dark magic’s touch.

Arthur was sweating more in the humidity, the perspiration dripping off of him as he said his spell through clenched teeth and fought to get the final words out and he was so close to being done with this and--

It all blew up in Arthur’s face. Arthur and Albany both went flying backwards in the green explosion which had no sound yet cracked through the clearing like a whip and stole the air from Kiku’s lungs, though that might have also been the scream that tore from their mouth as they helplessly, fruitlessly reached towards their Albany who was tossed aside like nothing more than the ugly dolls on the shelves of Arthur’s store.

The scientists scattered.

Gilbert did not shoot. He never would have anyway.

Kiku ran to zem. Ze was on the ground. The middle of the crop circle was charred and steaming in the thick, suffocating air.  There was no spaceship.

“ _Albany_ ,” Kiku’s voice broke as they gathered the alien to them. They let out a little breath upon feeling a steady pulse. Ze was only unconscious.

Even that was short-lived. Albany startled Kiku by twitching awake with a cough and then blinking around with a dazed smile. “ _Dude_! That was neat! Where’s my ship?”

France let out a wail from across the clearing that sent a spike through Kiku’s stomach.

_Arthur._

France was babbling frantically in French, clutching at the wizard where he cradled Arthur’s head in her lap.

Gilbert immediately rushed over to the two, quickly followed by Kiku supporting an unsteady Albany. Tears streamed down his face as she looked up at the others, blue eyes panicked. Horrified, he tried in vain to convey her hysteria in a language that just happened to be one that none of them spoke except for Albany who did not seem phased by human language in any of its forms.

Albany immediately dropped to the ground, making zir piece of technology some sort of medical device. “ _Albany_ ,” France choked out. “ _Albany_ , he isn’t _breathing_! _Albany, I don’t feel a pulse_!” the human was hyperventilating.

“Hey, it’s alright!” Albany placated. “I’ve got this!” Yet, zir eyebrows were drawn in concern. “Probably!”

Albany now held something that vaguely resembled a defibrillator.

It especially resembled a defibrillator when Albany ripped open the buttons on Arthur’s shirt and pressed two pads to the human’s chest, the human then convulsing with an electric charge.

Arthur Kirkland’s face contorted and he awoke with a yell, eyes flying wide open. Albany pulled away and the wizard let out a breath, slumping back against France. “ _Arthur_!” the human gasped, stroking a thumb over the wizard’s cheek as if checking if he was real. Arthur took France’s hand almost absently.

“I-I-I was so close. The ship… I-I could _feel_ it! It was so _close_ ! I was _there_ !” he took a shuddering breath. “I wasn’t strong enough. I did everything right. I did _bloody everything_  perfectly… and I wasn’t strong enough to handle the damn thing.”

“It’s alright,” France was openly crying now, crushing the wizard’s hand in her own. “ _Arthur_ , it is okay.” The wizard had a faraway look in his eyes, his consciousness fading fast. “Arthur, I…” France trailed off, thinking better of saying anything he may regret in the emotion-charged moment. “I’m just glad you made it. Don’t do that to me again, _oui_ ? Promise me you won’t.” Her voice shook. “Believe it or not I rather _like_ having you around.” Arthur’s hand was growing limp in his. “Arthur, you need to stay with us. We need to get you out of here…” She pleaded with the wizard as if the request would stop him from slipping away.

“Of course, love,” Arthur’s words slurred together, eyes hooded. He gave France a dopey smile. “Stay with me a while, won’t you?”Arthur asked before going limp in his arms.

“He’ll be fine. Probably. But he needs the rest. That sorta thing tires you out!” Albany explained to the distressed France.

“Yeah, but is anyone going to ask what the hell you just did?” GIlbert cleared his throat. “I’m not a doctor, though I’m certainly awesome and skillful enough to be if I _wanted_ to, but I don’t… I don’t think that’s how defibrillation works… You didn’t even yell ‘clear’, Al!” France glared at the man. Gilbert shrugged.

“‘S not a defibrillator, dude. It’s alien tech. Just go with it.”

The moment was broken as shouted orders to shoot on sight rang out from multiple directions far too close for comfort. “Guys! Get back under the invisibility cloak!” Albany strongly encouraged, changing the not-defibrillator back into the shimmering blanket that was difficult to look at directly.

“Help me with Arthur!” France gasped, dragging the wizard along the ground with her arms hooked under Arthur’s armpits. Gilbert picked up the man’s legs to help his friend. Kiku helped Albany cover everyone with the cloak.

Slowly, the quintet managed to shuffle with difficulty out of the crop circle. Gilbert and France were already puffing and heaving with the effort to move Arthur’s dead weight, but Albany and Kiku were desperately trying to keep anyone from stepping on the edge of the cloak and pulling it off of them.

It was hot, strenuous, and clumsy going.

But soldiers converged on the crop circle seconds after they had escaped. Kiku let out a small breath of relief. The humans would surely assume that the group had gotten away. No human would be able to find any of them. No human had any idea how they had made their stealthy getaway.

“THE ENEMY HAS INVISIBILITY TECHNOLOGY ACCORDING TO OUR SCIENTISTS,” a leader yelled at her subordinates. Oh. So the humans did know.

No matter. Even if the agents knew that they were invisible, there was no way that they could find them.

“SECURE A TIGHT PERIMETER! WE CALLED IN A LOCAL FIRE CHOPPER TO DUMP A WHOLE LOAD OF WATER ON THIS ENTIRE PLACE. LOOK FOR ANY BENDING IN THE CURRENT WHEN IT FALLS!”

Perhaps it would behoove Kiku’s group of renegades to hurry this along. They were already a _decent_ distance away from the crop circle, but still within firing distance. And the dog park was still heavily guarded. No way through there. And now a perimeter was cinching in around the forest tight enough to catch even invisible enemies.

Soldiers swarmed through the forest, spreading themselves out to be able to properly survey the terrain when the water would fall. Kiku swore they heard the sound of distant helicopter blades beating the sky.

Gilbert and France were breathing heavily. Arthur was still entirely useless. Albany and Kiku could not assist the humans’ plight when soldiers came within _feet_ of touching Gilbert more than once. Any slip of the blanket over them would attract officers like moths to a flame.

On and on they went. It felt no progress was even being made. The helicopter only grew closer.

Well, dropping water was not exactly an effective method of discovering them, right? The humans should be blinded too, right? The water could not possibly last long enough for them to be found. It would be over and by then they would have moved, right?

They saw the edge of the woods.

Surely they could make it out into the city and get back to Albany’s apartment the way they came.

A ring of armed humans in black stood in their way. Kiku sighed. They really needed to take some time off as a tree. They deserved it at this point, honestly.

The helicopter was now deafening. Leaves whipped unhappily under its wind, branches creaked. If they were revealed to the humans now… how would they escape? The humans were so close, but the group had no choice but to get closer. It was amazing that the agents could not hear France’s strained wheezing. Everyone looked around at each other. Kiku was positive there had not been this many humans around before. There was no way _through_ without breaking through the line of armed guards in any direction they looked.

Kiku had a feeling that they would not be making it back to Albany’s apartment.

But… Perhaps if the group took a shortcut through the dog park... The hole in the chain link fence had not been patched, only guarded with police tape. They could get through police tape. If they could make it through the dog park… The coffee shop was just across the street…

Then what?

Kiku put that out of their mind. One miracle at a time.

Kiku pointed towards the hole, towards the dog park, towards the coffee shop. Gilbert viciously shook his head and pointed at the officers, then at the guns. Albany helpfully pointed up at the helicopter just as it began to release its massive load of water, enough to fight uncontrollable wildfires, over them.

The strange lump of five people hiding under an invisible blanket was silhouetted under a haze of water casting peculiar rainbows all around.

Their time had run out. Multiple people shouted. There was no time to think. Guns cracked.

They all ran for it, following Kiku’s proposed route.

Gilbert cussed loudly at the injustice of it all and then at France and told him to let go of Arthur. Gilbert pushed his friend when she just blinked at him in shock. He hoisted the unconscious Arthur over his shoulder, burdening himself with the wizard’s full weight so that France could move faster.

They all ran. The blanket caught the wind, was stepped on, and it fell away. Everyone scattered, sprinting under fire through a dog park.

Kiku grabbed for Albany, refusing to leave zem behind. The alien turned the now-useless invisibility cloak back into a bracelet. France was in front of the alien and the wood nymph and to the side, zig-zagging for his life. Gilbert was slowed by Arthur, but pure adrenaline kept him plunging ahead.

That was, until one of the bullets hit its mark. Gilbert screamed as he went down, taking Arthur with him. “Kiku, go!” Albany managed to heave out through zir labored breaths. “Get to the coffee shop! I’ll meet you there!” France had skidded to a dangerous halt as well.

“I won’t go without you!” Kiku growled, already beginning to morph into the mutated tree form to fight the humans head on despite how poorly that strategy had gone last time.  

“I’ve got my anti-human gear on! The bullets can’t hurt me! I don’t want to see you get hurt! I have to help Gilbert and Arthur! I can be their shield! GO!”

Kiku had to leave zem. They dragged France along with them.

Albany was fast. Gilbert, screeching on the ground that was soaking through with his blood, was unable to assist Albany in helping him. When he was jostled even slightly, he screamed. And he screamed when Albany forcibly scooped the injured human into zir arms despite his shattered kneecap. Albany was strong.

But now even Kiku could see that ze could not carry the full weight of two fully grown humans.

France had already turned back around. Kiku called after her, but he was already charging straight back to Arthur Kirkland. Panicked and crying, yes, but going back for the man nevertheless. Kiku ran behind her, growing their limbs long and thick to shield the human from the spray of bullets that crashed through the wood regardless.

Chaos. Blood. Screaming. Branches. Bullets.

To say that the rather motley crew surprised the patrons of the peaceful coffee shop when they all tumbled through the door was a slight understatement. Kiku imagined they were already a bit disconcerted by the sounds of _warfare_ transpiring in the dog park, though, so they did not give them much thought. Besides, Gilbert was still screaming because his body had yet to allow him to pass out from the overload of pain brought about by the fact that his right knee… Well, his right knee now existed as smithereens missing or shredding through the rest of his leg.

France waved a greeting to his friend Antonio behind the counter.

They made it upstairs as the police broke down the door of the coffee shop (completely unnecessarily; no one had thought to _lock it_ ). Albany laid Gilbert down on the floor, the man yowling and shrieking to helpfully alert the agents to his whereabouts.

Heavy boots on the stairs.

“ _Albany,_ ” Kiku spoke to zem lowly but with desperation. “We have no other choice. You need to call the aliens for help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're enjoying this weird little tale so far! Please let me know what you think of this story! I love to hear your comments!


	14. Chapter 14

Albany’s bracelet morphed into a big red button with the words “ HELP! EMERGENCY!” stamped across it in white. It glowed.

Ze hesitated for only the briefest fraction of a second.

And then ze smacked it.

A pleasant ding reverberated out from the button, the sort of sound that would come from a call bell. It was not a loud noise, but as the sound waves traveled outward it seemed to hush all other noise, leaving an almost eerie degree of calm and quiet in its wake. The human city could use such a button’s interference more often, Kiku thought.

The boots on the stairs were silenced. No soldier came smashing through the door. The shouts from frightened customers and the commands of officers downstairs were muted. The sounds of the city outdoors gone. Kiku’s breath was loud in their own ears. They looked around themself. The air felt… _different_. It was not magic, as far as Kiku’s understanding of magic went, but this was something that they had never before experienced.

They flexed their hand and shuffled on their feet, testing it. They moved freely. Yet, only feet away from them, Gilbert was frozen. His face was a statue depicting his pain and anguish, the pool of blood around him further testament to that. He did not move, he did not yell, he did not bleed. He had simply. Stopped.

“What is this?” France asked, voice echoing.

“I sent out a distress signal to the others,” Albany explained while giving an explanation for nothing. France opened his mouth to inquire further, but abruptly cut off when a gentle knock came from the other side of the closed door to the stairs.

France and Kiku looked at each other and to the door and to Albany. Albany looked sheepish, dragging zir feet as ze went to open the door. The doorknob squeaked under zir hand, warning zem against doing it, but ze was not at all apprehensive to face whoever… _what_ ever was on the other side.

The door creaked noisily open.

Behind it stood a being that appeared humanoid and seemingly nonthreatening. This person… Kiku blinked. Well, this person resembled _Albany_ in many ways. This person, this _alien,_ was a slighter figure than ze was and this alien’s glasses were rounded as opposed to Albany’s rectangular spectacles, but otherwise the similarities were uncanny. This alien’s hair was shaggy, dipping below the ears, with a singular curl drooping towards the floor.

“‘Sup?” Albany greeted.

“Are you hurt?” the new alien cut right to the chase, voice significantly quieter than Albany’s.

“Nah. But we still could use some help!”

“ _We_?” the alien peered around Albany to look at Kiku and the humans. The alien flashed Albany a look of controlled anger before offering the others a polite smile.

The alien stepped forward into the room. Kiku half-expected this being to present a flower to them, but instead the alien simply extended a hand. Kiku hesitantly shook it. “My name is Matthew Williams, Albany’s brother. And you are?”

“Kiku,” they were quiet, cautious about any revealing any information. This ‘Matthew Williams’ was different from Albany, familial relation or not.

“And I’m _France_ ,” the blonde in question stepped forward and presented a hand with a flourish. “France Bonnefoy. Alternating him/her pronouns, if you please.” Matthew shook France’s hand politely, but a look in the alien’s eyes implied that Matthew was not here to deal with humans. Perhaps that was why Matthew had shaken Kiku’s hand first.

“I use he/him pronouns,” Matthew offered to the human, adjusting as needed to the situation. France’s gaze flicked over to Albany, clearly having many questions, but knew that there were more important matters to attend to. Matthew had turned back to Albany anyway. “So, are you needing help getting away from the humans outside?”

“Yeah. They’ve got guns,” Albany nodded.

“Did you forget that you’re wearing your anti-human armor? Bullets cannot--”

“ _No_ I didn’t _forget,_ Matthew! But, ya see, I’ve only got one for me and I’ve got humans and a nymph with me. They’re all a bit less immune to bullets,” ze explained. Matthew ran a hand through his hair with a sigh.

“ _Why_ do you have humans and a nymph with you, Al? You _know_ you’re not supposed to--”

“I know! But it just kinda happened. Also, Kiku isn’t a human so you can’t be mad about them knowing.”

“And yet,” Matthew put in “There are still three humans here. Two of them are incapacitated. Albany, there are _reasons_ that the humans _can’t know._ And, frankly,” he looked sadly over at Kiku. “Reasons that no Earthling should know about us.”

“Hey, dude,” Albany’s voice was tight. “I called you for help outta this pickle, not a lecture.”

“Look, I can see that the humans have you backed into a corner,” Matthew placated. “I can help you out, but then you need to go back to your ship and clean up the mess you’ve made. You know what needs to be done and you can do it yourself--”

“No, I can’t!” Albany interjected.

“Yes, you can. You shouldn’t have made friends in the first place because you _know_ what you need to do--”

“No, you don’t understand, Mattie! I…” ze looked embarrassed, but also shaken from Matthew’s words. Kiku did not fully understand what the siblings were speaking of, but they could get an idea after Albany’s talk about memory erasure. “Mattie, I lost my ship.” Matthew looked confused.

“Have you tried calling it to you?”

“Um, yeah, about that... I left the keys in the spaceship…”

“Do you remember the general area where you had it last? My ship can do a scan…?”

“Haha, good idea! But I think you should probably know, haha, that, uh… thehumanshavemyship.”

“Wait… What was that last part?” Matthew blinked a couple times. Albany put zir hands up like this was all a funny misunderstanding and Matthew should laugh about it too.

“Um. I don’t know where my ship is… because the humans have it.” Albany forced a grin and a laugh at the happenstance. Matthew did not laugh and he did not smile. He stared at Albany, uncomprehending, for a long, drawn out moment.

“You-You have to be kidding me,” Matthew’s voice was devoid of emotion as he shook his head in unbelieving bewilderment.

“Haha,” Albany cleared zir throat awkwardly. “Uh, nope. Sorry, bro. We think maybe it’s at Area 51…?”

“ _D’accord_. My apologies for breaking up this heartwarming family reunion, but do you think _maybe_ you two could help Arthur and Gilbert?” Matthew and Albany turned to look at the ailing humans.

“I’ll get it,” Matthew volunteered, shooting one last withering look at his sibling before pulling a silvery device out of his jeans’ pocket. Kiku remembered Albany holding something similar when ze had healed them.

Kiku watched the new alien approach Arthur on the bed, France trailing protectively close behind. Arthur was frozen just as Gilbert was, not even breathing. France, hands shaking slightly, stroked some of the wizard’s hair out of his face as the alien seemed to get a sort of reading on his device. “This man has manipulated matter and energy,” Matthew stated, surprised.

“He’s a wizard,” Albany told zir brother.

“... Right. Well, altering the physical universe like that takes an incredible amount of energy and it seems that he has chosen to take it from his own body. Now why would he do that?” Matthew shook his head again.

“It is dark magic that the human wields,” Kiku said. Albany drew subconsciously closer when Matthew raised an eyebrow towards them. “It is surprising that the damage was only to his own form.”

“... Right.” Matthew was not a being of magical arts, but he went with it. “Anyway. It just seems like he could use some… energy.” Matthew shrugged, which did not seem to pacify France. “I dunno. I can see what I can do. I don’t think they trained us for healing ‘wizards’ in school…?” Matthew started to look over at Albany for an answer, then thought better of it.

“Can you help him?” France demanded, pulling the wizard into his lap and holding him close. Matthew looked up into the human’s eyes, intrigued by the displays of emotion coming from France. Matthew nodded.

The alien plucked gleaming, pebble-sized pieces from what had appeared to be a perfectly smooth surface. Arthur’s shirt was torn open from Albany reviving him; Matthew placed the small gadgets to the bare skin of the wizard’s chest where they stuck fast.

Matthew slid a finger across the device in his hand.

Arthur unfroze with a twitch. The wizard took a deep, unhurried breath as his eyelids fluttered. “Arthur?” France asked hopefully. The man instantly grimaced.

“ _Bloody hell_ ,” Arthur groaned, forcing his eyes open. “Wha’ happened? Where are we? Frog? Why are you crying?” France quickly wiped at the tears as if she hadn’t realized they were there. Arthur sat up and moved to look around himself, but then he was being pulled into a deep kiss that he didn’t seem to have any desire to pull away from. Matthew turned away with a vaguely uncomfortable cough and went to Gilbert.

Kiku watched him step carefully over his boss’ blood, not even bothering with a scan; the prevailing issue was quite apparent.

Meanwhile, Albany had scooted over to Kiku’s side. Ze tilted zir head in curiosity, looking not at zir brother, but at the two humans locked in each other’s embrace. “They kiss so weird,” Albany commented. “Like, I’ve seen some humans do the same thing on TV sometimes, but I just thought it was because they were doing it wrong. Are they kissing wrong?” Albany asked Kiku. Kiku was unsure of what to say to that. They gave a noncommittal shrug.

Then, Gilbert was screaming again, the human couple leaped apart with a jolt, and Albany and Kiku flinched too. Kiku did not understand the language Gilbert was babbling and shrieking in, but they could assume that he was carrying on about his leg injury. After a second, he quieted in confusion. He looked down at his leg. He moved it a bit. He moved it a bit more. He bent it at the now-healed knee. “Oh,” said Gilbert, vocal chords rough. He noticed his savior. “Hi,” said Gilbert. “Who’re you?”

“I’m Matthew. I’m Albany’s brother.”

“Oh.” Gilbert lied back down on the floor. “Another alien.”

“... Yes…” Matthew told the human with some difficulty.

“Yay,” Gilbert’s tone did not convey excitement. “Thanks for fixing my awesome leg.” His heart was not in it. “Are you going to fix everything else too?” Matthew squinted.

“You’re perfectly healthy now.”

“No, I meant are you going to fix my life because I just want my coffee shop back, bro.” Matthew shot a ‘see what you’ve done?’ look at Albany. Albany, not reading this look properly, gave zir brother a thumbs up. Matthew took a deep, steadying breath. And the alien made a decision.

“No,” Matthew announced. “I’m _not_ going to pick up another one of Albany’s messes!”

“Hey, dude, if you’re still going on about that time I took a ship for a joyride and blamed it on you--”  

“ _Albany_ is going to take my ship and fix all of this _zemself_!” Matthew interrupted, slightly more confidently this time. “I am going to stay right here until ze does.”

“Dude. You can’t just keep things frozen like this. And I don’t imagine the soldiers outside are going to be too happy when it wears off. They’re gonna keep charging up here!” Albany looked scared at the thought of having to ‘fix’ this zemself. “Dude, you gotta help me out. That’s why I called you, remember? I’m taking a serious hit to my grade right now.”

“Not my fault you’re failing your class.” Albany stared blankly at him, shocked.

“But you always help me with school!” ze protested.

“You said it yourself, Al. I’m only here to get you out of your pickle.” He gestured around himself. “And I did. I’m even going to loan you my ship.” He relented a tad. “And I’m right here if you _really_ need me. But this is big. And I’m only making you handle your own consequences because I love you.”

“I thought it was because you were irritated with me.”

“That too.”

“Dude. I’m doing my best.” Matthew slid a hand down his face.

“Okay, okay,” he decided. Albany brightened. “I’ll fix things with…” he glanced around himself. “With the coffee shop. If I take care of the soldiers, you can do the rest, eh?” Gilbert wrapped Matthew in a sudden hug. The alien yelped in surprise.

“I like this one! This one is awesomer than all of you!” Gilbert shouted. “And, France...” The human was no longer paying attention to anyone but the wizard. “WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT MAKING OUT WITH MY REGULARS?!”


	15. Chapter 15

Matthew’s spaceship sat conveniently outside the coffee shop, just beyond of a swarm of frozen soldiers and police officers. It was large. It looked like Kiku supposed a spaceship was supposed to look.

Arthur immediately deemed it a good idea to march straight up to the alien craft to touch it. France pulled him back. “Are you really considering going _with_ them on this ludicrous quest?” France demanded of the wizard. Arthur, who Kiku was not sure should be up and about so fast after experiencing heart failure and being frozen in time with alien technology all too recently, looked at France like the human was crazy.

“Are you telling me that you _don’t_ want to come along on an _alien spaceship_ , frog?”

“ _Excuses-moi_! Arthur Kirkland, you have technically died today. Forgive me for suggesting you take a rest!” France’s gesticulations became wider and faster the more upset he became.

“I feel bloody fine!”

“You _died_!”

“Well, not permanently! So I don’t think you can say that I ‘died’ anyway.” France opened her mouth to argue some more. “Come with me, France,” Arthur said suddenly. France was caught off guard. Arthur caught the human’s hand and pulled him closer. “Come with us.” France looked over at Kiku, wanting someone to share a ‘ _Can you believe this man?_ ’ glance with.

Gilbert, meanwhile, was making faces at the frozen soldiers.

“Well,” Matthew gently spoke up. “Anybody that would like to join Albany can follow me onto the ship…”

Arthur and France, with no further argument between them, both followed Matthew through a perfectly circular hole that suddenly appeared in the flawless surface of the ship. Kiku was soon to join the others when Albany caught their hand and pulled them aside, away from any prying eyes.

Kiku looked up into zir beautiful blue eyes. “Are you okay, Kiks?” ze asked them, stage whispering. A strange question.

“Of course…?”

“There’s been a lot going on!” ze observed, rubbing zir neck with a half-grin. Kiku nodded, a little absently as they lost themself in Albany’s beauty. Albany’s nervous, busy expression softened the longer ze looked at Kiku as well. Ze reached to touch Kiku’s cheek. Zir fingers were warm against Kiku’s skin. Albany threw a quick glance over zir shoulder, suddenly cautious.

The others had entered the spaceship. Gilbert was on the other side of the ship, hidden from the two, likely continuing to dance around in front of soldiers that could not see him. It was just the two of them, for a single, wonderful moment in this blissfully peaceful, halted world.

Albany turned back to Kiku.

Albany wrapped zir arms around Kiku, stooping rather awkwardly due to zir impressive height. Kiku reacted naturally to zem as they stretched up to meet zem in the middle. The alien kissed the wood nymph there, beside a spaceship, in a world where nothing mattered but the close press of the other’s form.

Kiku's mind seemed to float in a dreamy space. Albany’s lips, zir fingers, zir arms… all of zem. Ze was intoxicating.

And then, Albany was lifting them into the air in a dizzying rush and they gasped and their hands clutched the broad shoulders before them and their back was gently pushed against the metal of the ship and Albany was _kissing_ them.

Kiku’s lips fit perfectly against Albany’s. Kiku’s body fit perfectly in Albany’s arms, responded perfectly to Albany’s touch, sang at the feeling of Albany’s arms supporting them under their thighs that were wrapped around zir sturdy waist. Kiku traced the muscles flexing under Albany’s skin, felt the texture of the goosebumps rising under their fingertips as their fingers slid from zir shoulders, up the column of zir neck, around the angles of zir jaw, the curve of zir face, to curl into zir hair.

And Kiku was kissing Albany, their lips slotted firmly against zirs again and again; passion meeting passion, adoration meeting curiosity meeting desire meeting _each other_.

Albany’s hair was soft as they twined it around their fingers. The alien sighed when they tugged to bring zem in for kisses, shuddered when they sucked zir plump bottom lip into their mouth, wanting _more_.

There were words on zir lips, Kiku could tell. But before either pulled away, before Albany spoke what was on zir mind, the alien and the wood nymph were cruelly reminded that the world did not stop for two.

“You can’t be serious.” The voice was soft, the voice was not malicious, but the voice was _not_ happy. Albany flinched, but did not drop Kiku. Ze let them down carefully before turning around, holding zir head high as ze faced zir brother.

“Hiya, Mattie!” Albany played it off like nothing had happened, as if zir cheeks weren’t still stained with a blush. Matthew’s eyes-- violet, setting him far apart from his sibling-- flicked between Albany and Kiku, a dangerous and intelligent glint behind them.

Matthew stepped away from his starship. “Albany, I have a telepathic link with my ship. I know everything that happens on my ship and--”

“Everything that touches any part of your ship, you know about… And, uh, that includes the outside…” Albany did not meet Matthew’s or Kiku’s gazes, embarrassed that such a simple detail had not occurred to zem as ze was kissing Kiku _against the spaceship_. There was no need for Matthew to confirm this fact.

Matthew moved forward, more quickly than Kiku was prepared for, and grabbed Albany’s arm to yank zem aside. The two siblings stood face to face. Matthew, tall and unshakable. Albany, like a kicked puppy.

“You are here for one reason, Albany. Just one,” Matthew’s voice was calm, but his undeniable fury threatened to spill into his tone. “What is that reason?” Matthew asked of zem. Albany kicked at the pavement unhappily. Ze wouldn’t answer. “You’re here for a college class,” Matthew answered for zem, enunciating each word slowly. “Look at me, Albany.”

Albany did.

“You are here with a grand total of two rules. What are those rules, Albany?”

“Matt, listen--”

“What’s the number one rule, Al? Just tell me that.”

“Don’t let the humans know aliens exist, but Kiku isn’t a _human_ , Matthew, you can see that!”

“And yet there are humans in my ship and there’s a human over there making rude gestures at _other_ humans that I had to stop time to save you from!”

“Yeah, okay, true, but--”

“Now what about that one other big rule, Al?” Matthew cut Albany off once more, pleading with zem helplessly. Albany glanced over at Kiku. Matthew looked over at them too, apologetic. Kiku wanted to go to zem, hold zem close, assure zem that everything would be okay for zem. Kiku wanted to _make_ everything okay for zem.

“I’m… I’m, uh… Not supposed to make lasting attachments…” Albany told the air between zir brother and the wood nymph.

“And you’ve become… _romantically entangled_ … with an Earthling?” Matthew put a hand on Albany’s arm. “Al, you _can’t_ and you _know_ what you have to do. Kiku not being a human _doesn’t change_ \--”

Albany ripped zir arm away from zir brother, looked Matthew straight in the face, and glared him down with eyes brimming with tears. “Yes, actually. It _does_ change things. It changes _everything_!”

“We cannot become romantically entangled with Earthlings, human _or_ nymph. No. Romantic. Attachments.” Matthew, with a tired sigh, turned and reentered his spaceship.

Albany scrubbed the tears from zir eyes and gave Kiku one more peck on the lips. Kiku took zir hand. Albany held on tightly. “We’ll figure it out, Kiks. Don’t listen to him. He's just tryin' to follow the rules. He's usually cool; I promise. C’mon. Let’s go find your family.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey look. i wrote kissing.


	16. Chapter 16

The interior of the spaceship was pleasantly spacious, Kiku would note. “This is...  surprisingly like one would imagine a spaceship looking…” Arthur said.

“Really? I was expecting less colors, more sterile whites,” France contributed.

“This model is designed pretty much like mine. Mine is more awesome, though. Even if Matthew keeps his cleaner,” Albany announced, to which Matthew rolled his eyes.

“Whatever, Al” It was not the most mature statement. “Just come with me to get the temporary link set up.”

“Sure thing, bro.” It made sense to the aliens, if not to anyone else. Matthew noticed the confusion radiating from the humans and Albany noticed him noticing. “Telepathic link,” Albany clarified. “Gotta get permission from Matthew to pilot his ship.”

The aliens left the large, circular space and the beings standing around awkwardly within it. France and Arthur paid Kiku little mind as the two immediately found themselves magnetized into another kiss. The humans literally were on board an alien craft, and yet still found the other more worth the attention. Perhaps Kiku would never understand the species.

They chose, instead, to wander the area. Every structure was more circular than humans’ preferred and structurally safe and sound angles. Neither the alien circles nor the human angles related at all to nature’s wonderful curves. Maybe trees had a one-up on both, though Kiku doubted that they should form any superiority complex based upon architectural preferences.

Did Albany find interest in Kiku’s curves?

They shook the thought out of their head. In their humanoid form, at least, Kiku was positive that they could not refer to their body as Nature’s “architectural preference.” Though, they supposed, that that was debatable.

Kiku certainly found interest in Albany’s rounded parts.

Stop. It was time to stop. Kiku now saw that they could understand their human companions’ preoccupation with each other after all.

Doors, there were doors in the spaceship. The doors were perfectly circular, all of them were closed, but presumably they all led to other places. The ship really was quite large. The ship was also made of a material that Kiku had never encountered before. Kiku skimmed their fingers along the wall and found it perfectly smooth, a frictionless surface. The floor was made of the same material, yet, as Kiku was standing and walking without falling on their back, it was _not_ without friction.

Kiku knelt, placing a hand on the floor. It felt exactly the same as the walls. And Kiku knew with certainty that they would be unable to shift into a full tree form in this place. They did not understand _how_ they knew, but they did. Kiku did not question many things about what they knew, did not know, understood, and did not understand. It made life quite a bit easier.

They did not understand Albany, nor their feelings for zem, but that did not stop either from being very, inexplicably real.

France and Arthur, meanwhile, were standing on the wall perpendicular to the floor and Kiku was unsure if the humans noticed.

Albany returned, nearly skipping with excitement despite the confrontation with zir brother. There was a possibility ze had been distracted enough to forget about it for the time being, which was a strangely endearing thought. Kiku accepted zir ebullient bear hug with grace and a stumble. “Why are they standing on the wall?” Kiku inquired, leaning into the alien.

“‘Cause they can. Why else?”

“Gravity doesn’t work that way,” Kiku informed zem sagely.

“Gravity works however you expect it to, Kiks.” Ze grinned proudly. France and Arthur made the discovery of the bizarre occurrence together and promptly fell to the floor with two similarly high-pitched shrieks. “See?”

Matthew stepped into the room from what was likely the captain’s quarters or a control panel of some sort. He eyed the alien and the wood nymph disapprovingly, but said nothing. Albany threw up some sporting finger guns for zir brother.

France and Arthur, meanwhile, were expressing their discombobulation at what had just happened in assorted expletives.

“You’ve got one hour with my ship _max_ , Al,” Matthew tried to set some ground rules and Albany mostly ignored him.

“Hour, shmour, Mattie.” Ze cracked zir knuckles. “I got this!”

“Don’t lose my ship.”

“I am hurt and offended that you would think so lowly of me, Matthew. You forget who you’re talking to, dude.”

“The person who lost zir _own_ ship?” Matthew proposed before turning to Kiku. “Look, I know we may have started off on the wrong foot, but you seem to be a being of _reason_ and _logic_ …” Matthew considered for a moment how to word his next statement politely and decided upon saying, “This is an area in which my sibling is _lacking_. Please balance zem out and don’t let zem do anything stupid.” He was pleading gently. Albany had scoffed and tuned out.

“Alright, alright, Mattie. Shoo and let the _real_ hero of this story get to work!” Ze patted Matthew’s shoulder, choosing to be oblivious to the fact that Matthew had saved zem and everyone else not half an hour ago. Matthew was too polite and passively annoyed with his sibling to point this out, so he left.

France and Arthur, meanwhile, were staring at Albany expectantly for either an explanation on their shared experience with misbehaving forces of gravity or instruction on what to do next.

“Okay! Let’s get this show on the road!” Albany yelled gleefully, clapping zir hands together and jumping up and down. Ze turned on zir heel and scampered away to the controls of the ship and waved for the others to join zem as an afterthought.

The controls seemed to be nothing but a series of glowing, transparent touchscreens with no blinking lights or instructions indicating what to do with them. Yet, Albany knew exactly what to do as ze hopped into a chair that swiveled around with the impact. “Sit or don’t, whichever,” was what ze told the group as ze swiped fingers absently across one of the screens.

The humans were headed for adjacent spinning chairs and Kiku was wondering what would happen if they chose to stand when the ship-- for lack of a better description-- blasted off. There was no jolt as it moved so quickly it seemed-- or actually did, Kiku could not be sure-- to blink out of existence and reappear at the destination. There was no feeling of movement at all. There was, however, an overwhelming sense of vertigo, potentially magnified for one peering through the panoramic view of the outside before them as Kiku was.

The humans both fell down after reeling sideways for a few seconds as one does after stepping off a merry-go-round. Kiku gripped desperately onto Albany’s chair for purchase-- which was a bad idea, they realized after it spun with their weight-- before tipping into the alien’s lap. Ze caught them with some surprise. “Okay, first of all, you guys really need to travel more. You can’t tell me your airplanes don’t feel _something_ like that, right?”

“They really don’t!” France said, covering his face with her hands and taking deep breaths.

“Huh. Whoops. Oh well.” Ze shrugged, petting Kiku’s hair as they pressed their head into zir chest to ward off the unpleasant sensation. “Anyway, second of all, what the heck?”

“YOU DIDN’T BLOODY WARN US--” Arthur tried to explain, not too courteously, to the confused alien.

“No, not that,” Albany waved him off, squinting through the large window. “We’re not where I told the ship to _go_. It’s like we bounced off, like, a force field or something before we could get there. Dude, I hate it when people put up force fields. But you guys, ya know, Earthlings, _really_ shouldn’t be able to. You don’t have the tech to repel our ships.”

“But… someone does?” Arthur wanted to confirm, sitting up and blinking like an owl in interest.

“Yeah, these Area 51 dudes do, I guess. Uh... I should report that. But that doesn’t get us in there. Mattie’s ship says my ship is in there, but… we can’t pass the force field in a ship. I dunno if it’s just keeping us out or if it would also keep us in. Scanners don’t like force fields. Uh… Well, heck. What now?”

“You mean to tell me... we just crossed the majority of the continental United States… and we are outside the perimeter of Area 51…?” Arthur tilted his head curiously. Albany gestured to the views of desert outside the window.

“Yep.”

“Do they… know that something just rammed into their force field?”

“I dunno. Scanners don’t like force fields, my dude.”

“I see. Do you think that I could use my spell now that we’re closer?” Arthur asked, eyes bright with eagerness. France sat bolt upright.

“YOU WILL _NOT_!”

“FROG, WE’RE _CLOSE_ NOW! I CAN BLOODY DO IT!”

“You don’t know that,” Kiku pointed out warily, their voice muffled as their face was still buried in Albany’s shirt. The vertigo was mostly gone, but Kiku would rather not move.

“Yeah, you should wait a bit,” Albany advised Arthur. The wizard scoffed, offended that the people around him would try to preserve his life when it was so inconvenient for him.

“How long?” Arthur demanded. “I feel fine!”

“Uh…” Kiku felt Albany shrug. Kiku, lying limply against the alien, wrapped their arms around zir middle to avoid sliding to the floor. “I dunno. You should sleep it off, though. Humans need to recharge,” was Albany’s expert medical wisdom.

“So, what? We just… camp out here?” Arthur seemed displeased by the idea. Then, Kiku assumed that he must have looked over at France. “But… _maybe_ it could work out…” he decided.

“Okay, cool! You guys get some rest; I mean, what a long day you poor humans have had! And then we do magic. And if magic doesn’t work, I dunno. We can always ask them nicely to give it back? Stealing is very rude.”

“So is invading our planet with frighteningly superior technology,” France piped up, in Earth’s defense.

“Not as rude as _stealing_!” Albany protested. “So, you guys can just pick a door out there. There’ll be rooms. The ship knows what you need for creature comforts; it’s very inclusive when it comes to accommodating for species diversity,” Albany assured the humans. There was mildly bewildered hesitation. And then there were receding footsteps as the humans reminded themselves that they were, in fact, on a spaceship and questioning did little good.

Kiku looked up at Albany from their stomach, since they had slipped down from zir chest. “Hey,” Albany greeted them. “You doin’ alright?”

“Yes, I do believe so.” They rested their chin on zir tummy, content to lay there draped upon the alien and admire zem from the new angle.

“Cool,” ze told them, and zir voice cracked slightly, and ze was blushing, and ze wouldn’t _quite_ meet Kiku’s eyes, and it was about this point that Kiku noticed they were situated between zir legs as ze sat reclined in zir spinning captain’s chair.

Oh.

_Oh._

“My apologies,” and now Kiku’s cheeks burned as well, but they did not move, and Albany did not ask them to.

“You’re fine,” Albany managed to say through the now-palpable tension. “But, um, if you could lay, like, uh, _not_ directly on my genitals that’d be super awesome ‘cause it kinda hurts. Uh, sorry.” Kiku went to stand and Albany grabbed their thin wrist. “N-No, wait, uh, you don’t have to leave, if you don’t want to…?”

And so Kiku kissed zem. And zir hands went to clutch at their back, enticed them closer with those blue eyes and those lips. Kiku's skirt was rucked up in a manner that would have been impolite if Kiku was human as they straddled Albany’s hips more comfortably. Ze kissed them like they were a breath of fresh air, and they cupped zir jaw with both hands and kissed zem right back because ze was the most beautiful person they had the privilege of knowing and questions of the alien’s ideas of intimacy swirled in the back of their mind, but they were too lost in zem to bring the inquiries to their tongue, and Albany giggled with the butterflies in zir stomach and the delirious giddiness of having Kiku close and--

“ _Right_ , sorry, hate to butt in, but neither of you heard me clear my throat _three times_ , and as thought-provoking as the idea of alien genitals is, I would prefer instead to know if you can have your ship produce a toothbrush for me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait for this, folks. Feel free to let me know what you think. I'll try to get more up in a timely manner because stuff is soon to happen in this convoluted plot, I swear.


	17. Chapter 17

The humans had a shared room aboard the UFO. Albany led Kiku by the hand to one of their own. They held on to zem tightly, leaning on their lovely alien as they walked. Kiku had not realized how fatigued they had become until the idea of _rest_ was offered to them.

Albany was designed for the unnatural light of the ship, Kiku thought. The light came from no apparent source, yet it glistened so perfectly off Albany’s lips, zir rosy cheeks, zir shortened hair. Ze was at home here, as Kiku was at home in the forest, and it was refreshing to see zem like that-- unharried by Earth customs, excited to introduce Kiku to zir world.

“It’s very species-inclusive!” ze was explaining to them proudly. “It has to be, you know. Our home planets-- I know you guys only have the one planet, but we’ve got a few-- like to pair with all kinds of folks for business and all that. We’re keeping an eye on Earth for cool stuff to pop up, but right now Earth is mostly only useful for my undergraduate class, so. Yeah. _I_ think that you guys are awesome! I mean, _art_! Culture! Like, I guess we kinda view it as without real _purpose_ \-- and especially not worth it because you guys aren’t too friendly with strangers-- but I think it’s so _neat_! I’m actually really curious to see what the ship cooks up for your room, Kiks. It does some biological scan stuff and brain scan stuff so it knows what you need and what you’d prefer.” Kiku nodded along, interested.

A door opened as Albany drew near. Kiku entertained the idea of zem having had trouble with walking into Earth doors that did not all open automatically. Albany gave a grand, presenting wave. Kiku stepped past zem, peering inside.

And it was magnificent.

It was silvery inside the room, as if illuminated by an unseen full moon. A time for rest. Kiku stepped through the door and onto the lush carpet of grass. They sensed rich soil. A place perfect for a tree to sink roots into. It smelled like home-- like a forest, though there were no other trees.

An expanse of soil and grass to take a full tree form, a rainbow of flowers curling sweetly upwards to evoke memories of a spring unlike any they had ever seen, no unhealthy bugs or parasites, no nibbling or burrowing creatures. Beautiful and ideal for a wood nymph in every way.

Yet, they couldn’t help but find it lonely.

The forest had been their home because of their family, because of their friends, because of the other creatures that had once called it home as well. This place was as empty of all those things as the remains of the forest were now.

But this place _was_ different, they realized. This place had one thing that their home had _never_ been graced with, no matter how fond their memories of it were.

They looked to Albany.

Kiku melted at the sight. Ze was painted in hues of glowing black and white as ze gazed, entranced, at the room around zem. Kiku reached for zem. “I love it,” Kiku told zem and zir face was brighter than the room. Kiku took zir hand, so warm, so large, so wonderfully enclosing Kiku’s own. And Albany was at a loss for words because ze had so many in zir happiness. “Stay with me?” they asked, a quiet question for zir ears only.

Albany nodded, eager.

Kiku smiled. The alien was adorable and ze was precious to Kiku. There were many things that Albany did not understand; there were many others that Kiku did not understand. Kiku did not understand the ways of their own heart. Or the ways that the universe had in which an alien and a wood nymph were brought together.

They did know, however, that they wanted Albany close as they pulled the alien down beside them in the grass. The ground was soft beneath them, lightly radiating heat as if it had spent the whole day under a hot sun. Kiku could fall asleep there.

Albany stretched out lazily on zir back. Kiku watched zem run zir fingers over the texture of the grass as they lay near zem on their side with their cheek in their hand. It was comfortable silence, for a moment, and then, “What’s on your mind?” Albany looked over at them with big blue eyes, almost shyly awaiting an answer. Shy?

“You,” Kiku answered zem honestly, curling closer to skim exploratory fingers along zir stomach and chest.

“Same,” Albany chuckled, a little nervously. “Wait. Like. Not thinking about _myself_ ; I am thinking of _you_ ,” ze backtracked to clarify needlessly. Kiku hummed, tracing zir shoulder, zir neck. “So… What about me?” ze asked, grinning back at Kiku when they stroked over zir jaw, zir cheeks. Kiku shrugged.

“Just how lovely you are,” they murmured and ze blushed and ze grinned some more. “Anything on your mind, Albany?” Ze laughed.

“Actually…” ze laughed again, uncomfortable. “Was kinda wantin’ to ask you some stuff?” Kiku shuffled closer, leaning into the alien.

“What is it?”

“Okay, so like,” ze made a large, vague gesture. It did not convey zir thoughts effectively. “So, um. Arthur and France, ya know?” ze decided upon saying. Kiku raised an eyebrow.

“What about the humans?”

“Like,” ze shook zir head before trying once more. “Ya know when those guys, like… kiss? They’re kissing right now, actually! In their room. I don’t think they know that, as captain, I know what everyone is doing on the ship…? So, yeah, they’re kissing. And they kiss weird? But I’m starting to think that maybe it is not incorrect like I originally _thought_ , but I do not know for certain…?”

“Albany, are you referring to France and Arthur kissing with tongue?” Albany, embarrassed and shy and awkward about the topic, shrugged and coughed out a laugh before finally nodding. “It is a common practice among humans, to my understanding,” Kiku informed zem. That, they were aware of. Albany nodded. And ze was silent for a beat before braving zir next question.

“Like, _we’ve_ never kissed like that? And, if it’s not _wrong_ … It’s not wrong, is it?”

“I do not think that it is, no.”

“Well, I was kinda wondering if _we_ could…?” Ze breathlessly hurried into more words, trying to cushion any blow ze might have caused with such a simple, innocent request. “I mean, um, it seems to be, uh, an extended expression of, ya know… passion? Like, I think kissing-- like normal, like we have, and it’s totally awesome, don’t get me wrong!-- but I think kissing has more of a connotation of… affection? Less passion, more affection? And, uh, not that passion _can’t_ be expressed in _normal_ kissing-- ‘cause it is! And I know that!-- but watching the humans it just seems--MMmpf…” Kiku massaged the tension out of the muscles in zir neck as they kissed zem. Perhaps it was rude to keep interrupting zem as such, but ze often forgot that ze did not have to fret about silly Earth customs around them. Albany took the liberty of licking at their lips almost immediately. Kiku parted their lips for zem.

The desperation of zir kiss left Kiku dizzy enough to break it. Panting, they climbed over zem. Albany closed zir eyes as Kiku steadied themself with hands on zir chest. The warmth of zir skin beneath the fabric of zir t-shirt had Kiku wanting to pull it off of zem. They bent to kiss at zir neck. “The kissing is fine,” they breathed into zir ear. “But I have questions for you as well.”

“Anything,” was Albany’s raspy, determined promise. Kiku cupped zir cheek to get zem to meet their eyes.

“If you are interested in displays of passion,” they began quietly. “I would like to know your thoughts on intimacy.” Albany was no longer the only one with a face flushed red.

“Oh,” Albany said. “Um.”

“So that I do not make you uncomfortable,” they whispered weakly. “I will need to know what you are comfortable with.”

“No, we totally should talk about stuff and all. I just wanna know what you mean. Just so we’re on the same page, you’re talking about sex, right?”

“Yes, that would be correct.” Albany thought about this, head tilted as ze gazed up at Kiku.

“It’s a _huge_ ol’ taboo for my culture, actually. As in, like, you’re not even supposed to _think_ about it. Like, I’m dressed right now to fit into human culture. If I wore this on my _home planet_ , I’d be arrested for public indecency because I look like-- I dunno, for lack of a better word-- I guess I look like a slut. So, yeah, the idea is that you cover everything so that no one has to think about wantin’ to get jiggy with it. So I’ve broken _nearly_ every societal boundary with you already.” Ze smiled as ze brought Kiku down for a doting kiss. “Guess I’m just a rule breaker. They’re stupid rules anyway.”

Kiku smiled, kissing zem deeply just as ze had requested. “Shameless, are you?” they teased zem.

“I guess. I think it’s just you, though. I’ve never felt like this before, Kiku.” Kiku leaned their forehead against zirs.

“Neither have I,” they admitted breathily. “I’ve fallen deeply for you, Albany F. Jones.” Kiku let the alien explore their mouth with zir own. “But I don’t think your family would be too fond of mine; wood nymphs don’t wear clothes at all.” Albany giggled.

“We’re kinda opposites, then, aren’t we? Perfectly complementary,” ze sighed dreamily as ze romanticized the notion. “So, I guess I didn’t really answer your question so much as I gave you a lesson about my world-- oh no.” Ze cut zemself off, nose scrunching.

“What is it?” they asked, confused by the change.

“Telepathic link with the ship, remember? I know everything that happens on it?” ze sighed, annoyed and uncomfortable. “France and Arthur have decided to move on from kissing instead of _resting_ like they’re supposed to.”

“I see.”

“No, _I_ see! There’s a law against having relations on spaceships for a _reason_ and that _reason_ is because nobody wants to see that, dude!”

“I do not think they’re aware of the situation, Albany.”

“Clearly not! What am I supposed to do?” ze whined. “They’re my _friends_ ; I don’t want that image burned into my brain!”

“Can you not turn off the link?”

“Not unless I sever it entirely. Then I won’t be able to pilot the ship. And I can’t set it back up because it’s _Mattie’s_ ship and only _he_ can set up links.”

“You could ask the two to stop?”

“Dude, I don’t wanna go in there!”

“Would you like _me_ to ask them to stop? I think humans consider that rude, but I don’t think they want you knowing the details of their sexual encounters, either.”

“ _I_ don’t want the details! Dude!”

“I will request that they stop.”

* * *

 

Arthur and France wouldn’t look Albany or Kiku in the eye the next morning.

That was fine. There was work to do be done. Albany’s ship dished up food for everyone. The humans sat far away from the Albany and Kiku, eating food designed to reflect dishes from their respective home cultures. Kiku was quite fond of the simulated fish and rice the ship created for them.

Arthur and France sat with their heads together and hands entwined, whispering to each other and appearing very serious about it. Albany was chowing down on a messy burger and playfully kicking at Kiku’s feet under the table.

Albany said something.

Ze did, however, have zir mouth full of food. Arthur and France stared blankly over at zem. Albany sighed and swallowed before speaking again, taking Kiku’s hand. Kiku ignored the grease on zir fingers for the time being. They rubbed a supportive thumb over the back of zir hand. Internally, Kiku wondered precisely _how big_ of a deal such simple acts of affection would be treated around zir fellow aliens.

How big of a deal was holding Kiku’s hand for _Albany_ , even if ze was fascinated by earthly ways and seemed happy to emulate and accommodate for such things?

“--My brother is going to be so mad at me!” Albany was telling the group, slightly too cheerily for the situation. “But it’s whatever! My friends needed rest. You guys _are_ rested now, aren’t you?”

All eyes went to Arthur. The wizard, who’d been busy watching his rings glisten in the alien light when Albany began talking, took a moment to register the sudden expectant silence. Arthur coughed awkwardly. “What was that?”

Albany, unoffended, was happy to repeat zemself, but then France slammed a hand down on the table. “For Heaven’s sake, Arthur!” he yelled with indignation and hurt that seemingly came from nowhere. “Ze asked if you were ready to risk your life again?!” France stared down the man sitting beside her. Albany appeared to be taken aback by the unexpected shouting and tension. Kiku did not understand human expressions of emotions. Then again, they supposed, they did not understand expressions of emotions much _anyway_.

France seemed to be taking Arthur risking his life personally. There seemed to be unsaid accusations within those words.

“France...” Arthur started, not meeting the other human’s eyes. “I’m sorry…?” he tried. It was not what France wanted to hear. He saw this. And he kissed France, then, unabashedly and in front of everybody. “Love,” Arthur tried again as France looked away, wiping viciously at the corners of his eyes. “I am going to summon the ship. I can do this! I’m sure of it.” Albany’s question had been mostly answered, at least. “I--” Arthur glanced uncomfortably at Albany and Kiku. Albany and Kiku gazed uncomfortably back. Albany waved. Arthur chose to ignore the inhumans. “You _know_ I care about you. Ah... And that I… see you as _more_ to me… than what our previous…” he fumbled for words. " _Arrangements_ may imply…” France laughed at him, not unkindly.

“What?” she asked, gently teasing. “Is ‘fuckbuddies’ too crass for you?”

“Why yes,” said Arthur, coughing at his own words being turned on him. “It is. I like to think of myself as more of a romantic than that.”

Albany looked over at Kiku, zir expression a question mark. Kiku shrugged back at zem. The two chose to live with the fact that there were simply matters that neither of them would ever come to understand about human beings. “So. Can we summon my ship now?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Arthur is rested up and ready to try summoning Al's ship. The gang did, however, go a little over Matthew's 'one hour' allowance.  
> Sorry about slow updating, but I hope you lovely folks enjoyed this chapter! If you did (or if you didn't!) please feel free to tell me your thoughts. :)


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gilbert's part is from the evening the gang arrives in the desert.

So anyway Gilbert was totally going to get drunk off his _ass_. He was entitled to it. He’d been through way too much supernatural shit in way too short a time. So fuck it. He was going to crack open a fucking _keg_ with the fucking alien.

Above his coffee shop. Where he lived. As if nothing had happened. There was a football match on. Yay.

He was starting to feel more himself by around the third bottle--or was it fourth? Who was counting? Not him!-- of good, German beer. And he totally wasn’t thinking about how there weren’t any signs of his blood anywhere in the loft and about how there weren’t any police officers outside anymore and about how there weren’t warrants out for his arrest anymore and about how business was… going on as usual… at the coffee shop. Antonio had gone home. No questions. A chummy pat on the shoulder and some old phrase in Spanish that was lost on Gilbert.

But that didn’t matter. He was going to pretend everything was fine… and actually, the thing was… it just _might be_. Things might _actually_ be back to normal now. Gilbert might actually not have to deal with anymore of this. And Gilbert would never spontaneously hire a person from off the streets again, no matter how well they made tea and coffee! Honestly, who had ever thought it was a good idea to let him be an adult and run a business? Gilbert wasn’t a ‘business’ sort of guy.

But that didn’t matter either. And it kept mattering less as Gilbert popped open another beer. The football game was on. Actual _Fußball_ , not that American stuff. The scores were in his team’s favor. He kicked his sock feet up on the coffee table in front of the couch.

Matthew Williams sat on the other end of the couch. He was very quiet. He sipped delicately at his bottle of beer out of politeness rather than enjoyment. He kept to himself, a bundle of clothes with a pretty little head sticking out. Albany’s brother. E.T. was sitting on his couch. E.T. had fixed Gilbert's leg and fixed his life. E.T.’s sibling was off on some adventure with his employee, his friend, and one of his regular customers.

Matthew looked over at him, catching him staring like the _Dummkopf_ he was. “Yes?” Matthew said at the same time that Gilbert let out a ‘ _sooo_ …’ Some more dumb staring, because _now_ who was supposed to speak?

“So…” Gilbert tried again, less awesomely. “‘Williams.’ And Albany’s last name is Jones? Half-siblings?”

“No. We are twins, actually.” Matthew’s voice was quiet, calm. Gilbert wondered if he had studied the best non-threatening tone to use with humans. Gilbert then took another swig of beer and decided he didn’t care. “We are using human names to blend into the culture,” Matthew explained to him.

“Ah. So what’s your actual name?”

Matthew gave him a small smile. “Matthew.”

“But you just said--”

“I’m not trying to be rude, but it is much easier for you to know _Matthew_.”

“Oh.” Gilbert decided to stop trying to talk to the alien about alien things. “So, Matthew, you are way awesomer than your sibling. What do you like to do?” And, wow, Matthew started  _talking_ to him. And Gilbert was talking back, you know, because he was a good guy. Talking, drinking,  _Fußball._

Around Gilbert’s fifth beer, it occurred to him that Matthew really didn’t like beer himself. And so the two crept down to the closed coffee shop and in the dusty, grimy yellow light of the old creaky staircase, Gilbert made him some hot chocolate. On the house. With all the fancy syrups and fixings. Because Gilbert was an awesome guy and Matthew was a good, cool guy. Guy. Alien. Alien guy.

Around Gilbert’s sixth beer, in the bluish-white flickers of the television-- muted and forgotten--he was finally starting to get that tipsy buzz. And Matthew was laughing at something he’d said and Gilbert was learning that Matthew had a sense of humor. He was a _sarcastic_ little shit who liked passive aggressive insults aimed at his sibling. And yeah, Gilbert was gonna admit it, E.T. was cute.

By the seventh, Gilbert had lost his shirt. He wasn’t sure how. But he _did_ know that Matthew didn’t have a problem with his arm across his shoulders as they both snorted with more uncontrollable giggles.

“So what’s with the layers? You’re too pretty for so many layers.”

“And you are too drunk to say such things.”

“I’m not fucking _drunk_. Tipsy at best. Worst? No, best. And I don’t get drunk. I just get more awesome. So,” he poked Matthew’s hoodie-covered chest. “What’s with the layers?” Matthew sighed as he admitted it.

“It is indecent to show skin in my culture.”

“Am I making you uncomfortable, then?” Gilbert nodded to his naked torso.

“... No…”

“So the reason you keep looking at my buff manly masculine chest is because you _like_ it?” Gilbert wiggled his eyebrows. Matthew looked away, visibly red even in the flushed light of the television. "You don't just like it. You like-like it," Gilbert cackled, leaning against Matthew as he did. “Just puttin’ it out there: there’s no one here but us.” Gilbert’s tone was sing-song and teasing but Matthew’s face was so close to his. Gilbert watched as Matthew twiddled his thumbs in his lap.

“It wouldn’t… mean anything… if I kissed you.” A question that wasn’t a question.  

“Why, Matthew Williams, how _indecent_ of a suggestion.” They were both smiling but then Matthew’s mouth was on his and Gilbert was snogging E.T. on his couch. Matthew had such pretty hair, such pretty lips. E.T. was _so_ pretty. Matthew was gorgeous.

And Gilbert’s mind flew south the moment that Matthew decided he wanted to take it further. Was Matthew seducing Gilbert? Was Gilbert seducing Matthew? Didn’t matter. _I’m going to fuck the alien,_ was the only thought in Gilbert's delirious mind and they weren’t on the couch anymore because Gilbert had a bed and that’s generally a better place to be. Matthew had toed his shoes off and stripped off his hoodie-- a simple t-shirt beneath-- before Gilbert covered his body with his own.

It occurred to Gilbert as he popped the button of Matthew’s jeans that he literally had no idea what he was gonna find in an alien’s pants but decided as Matthew gripped the back of his head for another desperate, searing kiss that he was just pansexual enough not to give a shit.

The night glowed with city lights, the dark forest behind the dog park stood still, the downstairs coffee shop smelled of late-night hot chocolate, empty bottles and mugs covered Gilbert’s coffee table, articles of clothing had strewn themselves across Gilbert’s bedroom floor, and two bodies rustled the sheets of Gilbert’s bed.

* * *

 

The desert was, disappointingly, exactly as one would expect a desert to be. Kiku, being a tree, wasn’t fond of such a climate. They stood outside with crossed arms and skirt billowing in the wind. It was hot, the Sun unfriendly to the local vegetation as it baked the ground as hard as stone.

Albany was unphased. And, despite everything, ze seemed excited to try this again. Perhaps it was Arthur’s excitement rubbing off on zem. The wizard was bouncing on his feet, running his ringed fingers over his spellbook, eyeing the desert ground for a suitable place to chalk out his summoning circle.

Then, just like before, a circle was made upon the ground, symbols of Arthur’s dark magic glaring out at Kiku. They shifted uncomfortably. Arthur’s dark magic was being used for _good_ , Kiku reminded themself. It would not hurt Albany. And if Albany was unhurt, ze could fix any damage the wizard managed to inflict upon himself. Nothing could go worse than before.

Kiku looked out at the barren desert. Miles away, distorted by the heat, Kiku could vaguely make out what appeared to be a security fence. Undoubtedly, the institution known as Area 51 would be highly populated by armed humans. Kiku could not see any humans from where they were. They imagined the same rule applied for humans seeing the unusual party of individuals standing in the desert. Considering how recklessly curious humans were, even if the humans _could_ see the four of them, the humans would likely chalk it up to nothing more than fascinated tourists.

Kiku wanted Albany back in their arms, encircled and close and safe. They would like zem back on the ship, like last night, as ze thanked Kiku for quieting France and Arthur by drawing them in for long, languid, sublime kisses…

But then Arthur was beginning his spell.

Magic spiced the air as the wizard grinned like a maniac, the lunatic glee of a man whose lifetime of studies was finally applicable. Nothing was different from the other attempts at summoning, only the setting. This time, though, it was assumed that it would _work_. The previous failures had no effects on Arthur because _this time_ , surely, he would succeed.

And he did. _Arthur did it._

It was so sudden, even Arthur flinched.

Arthur put his fingers to Albany’s forehead, Albany was seized by the magic’s grip, but this time the alien and the wizard were not blown off their feet. This time, there was a resounding _bump_ \--an odd noise, really--and Arthur severed the spell. He was conscious. Albany was fine.

And there was Albany’s ship, sitting there with its invisibility fritzing temperamentally.

But it was on the other side of the force field-- the force field that living beings could cross without being aware of its presence, but that no spaceship could cross. Albany had described it to them as being programmed to allow everything but _that particular_ material from crossing.

The humans, Albany, and Kiku all looked around at each other. There was the ship. The group could now _enter_ the second ship. However, the spell had not been able to transport it past the force field.

“Well…” said Albany. Ze did not continue this sentence.

“ _Voila_ ,” France sighed.

“There it is,” Albany agreed. All eyes turned to Arthur.

The wizard was tired. The wizard was upset. “Right,” said the wizard. “We’ll need to do something about that.”

“Do you know a spell for force fields?” Albany suggested helpfully.

“Do you have _any_ idea what to do now?” France wanted clarified.

“Um,” said the wizard. “No.” He puffed up his cheeks with air, then let it out. This did not bring any ideas to his mind. “I have no _bloody_ idea.” He threw his spell book to the ground, then picked it up and dusted it off apologetically.

“How long will it take for the government agents to notice that it is gone, do you think?” France inquired.

Oh.

There was also that detail to be taken into consideration.

“Maybe they won’t notice!” Albany piped up optimistically.

“FREEZE! PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR! GET ON THE GROUND! EVERYBODY ON THE GROUND!”

The humans appeared out of nowhere and all at once. There were so many of them. There was a helicopter above them, shining its spotlight on the group, which Kiku thought was quite redundant since the Sun had only just begun its reign of terror for the day.

Albany grabbed them.

And Albany ran, their hand clutched in zirs as the humans shouted in anger. But what was important to know about the humans was that none of them were _angry_ , despite how they sounded, despite how they acted. Anger is a secondary emotion in humans. The humans were afraid. And it made these people so angry to be made afraid.

Kiku did not think it was wise to disobey the humans so blatantly as Albany had chosen to do, but nor did they believe that it was wise to _obey_ and surrender to human cruelty. Arthur and France could surrender to the humans, because France and Arthur were humans. Presumably, France and Arthur would be treated as such.

Kiku and Albany were not humans and it made the humans so angry because the humans were so afraid.

Kiku and Albany ran.

The humans fired their guns, but the alien and the wood nymph had already tumbled through the door of Matthew’s spaceship. It took a precious moment for Kiku to understand _why_ the two had _tumbled_. Albany had not fallen in a desperate dive to enter the spaceship.

Albany had been hit.

The humans surged forward. The door was not closed against the humans.

The humans were not the only ones who were scared. “ _Kiku_ ,” Albany smiled, but then winced. Ze was in pain. Ze was crying. But ze still tried for a smile for them. Albany put a hand to Kiku’s cheek and Kiku gasped as their mind _jolted_ violently. Albany’s hand was ripped away as the humans got hands around the alien’s ankles and Albany shrieked with the pain of the gunshot wound on zir foot and the terror of what was happening. “Kiku, I--” but ze didn’t have time to say it. Instead, as ze was dragged away, guns pressed against zem, ze cried out one last word: “Run!”

Kiku scrambled backwards, into the ship. And the doors snapped closed immediately.

_Albany. Albany, Albany, Albany, Albany, Albany--_

Kiku was alone. The humans were still outside. The humans _had Albany_!

… And Kiku could… _sense_ the ship. All of it. They felt the human hands, the boots, beating on the outside of it as if the material would give way. Their mind swam. It was so much to take in. It was so unlike anything they’d ever experienced.

They were the pilot of the spaceship. Not Albany the alien, but _Kiku_ the wood nymph.

How? Albany had said only Matthew could transfer the ‘link.’

Could Kiku save Albany with the ship? Could Kiku _abduct_ an alien from the humans? Did UFOs have the beams of light that movies depicted to steal cows and humans?

Kiku ran to the captain’s seat. Where? Where would they find such a beam of light? The controls were just unmarked touchscreens! Kiku frantically swiped a finger over one. And then they understood. They suddenly _knew_ how the ship operated.

And there was no beam of light that could save Albany.

What did they do? What were they supposed to _do_?!

Kiku couldn’t save Albany from the humans, they realized. They couldn't save zem. _Not alone._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave kudos and comments to tell me what you think!


	19. Chapter 19

Kiku’s heart was pounding. It felt as if it was trying to escape their chest, beating desperately against their ribs because if it could get out, then it wouldn’t have to worry for Albany.

Kiku’s hands were shaking as they busied about the controls, but they were sure. Perhaps the ship was guiding them with the knowledge of what to do, wanting to save Albany as much as they did. The sentience of the ship was questionable; Kiku’s resolve was not. They would do this. Albany would be _fine_. They would make sure of it. So, they ran. It felt like running. Except, they were flying. They camouflaged the ship and they _flew_. They did not fall this time as the ship lurched, as the ship took them exactly where they needed to be.

They touched down beside their tree in the dog park, which was no longer closed to the public. The confused yips of a few small dogs populating the underutilized space followed them as they opened the door of the ship and they _ran_.

Cars honked unhappily as they crossed the city street and burst into the coffee shop. A few customers looked up from warm beverages. Gilbert looked up as well from behind the counter and promptly removed the over-friendly hand from Matthew’s arm and the flirtatious look from his face. “Kiku…?” Gilbert asked, frowning and peering around them for the others. “Where’s…?”

Matthew turned to face Kiku, stepping away from Gilbert, slightly red in the face. Kiku marched directly up to the counter. “Matthew,” Kiku began breathlessly. “The humans have Albany.”

The world imploded ever-so-slowly as this reality sunk its claws into Matthew and Kiku at the same moment. Their heart constricted painfully along with their throat and they were blinking at burning eyes and they were shaking and human emotions were so terribly painful that they didn’t have a clue what to do with any of it.

Albany was captured and injured. Their family was gone. So much had happened so quickly and they understood so little of it. And now Matthew was looking at them with shock and with fear and regret and for the first time it occurred to Kiku that Matthew might not know what to do either.

“Wait. Where’s France and Arthur?” Gilbert demanded. And Kiku shook their head.

“With Albany.”

Then, Matthew Williams had two sets of eyes on him. Waiting on him for an answer. Depending on him for a solution.

Another human customer wanted some tea.

“I have to call the others,” Matthew said quietly.

“Will the others save Albany? And Arthur, and France, who are human? Matthew, there is a force field that your ships cannot pass through.”

“A _force field_ put up by _humans_?” Matthew could hardly believe it.

“You can get through force fields, right? If you call the others?” Kiku’s voice was quieter than Matthew’s. And Matthew was silent. Gilbert and Kiku watched him expectantly.

“Hey, guys, can I maybe get some tea?” asked the customer.

“Excuse me,” said Kiku. “But my alien significant other has been kidnapped by the government and I would rather like to get zem _back_.”

“Yeah, can’t you see we’re busy discussing alien invasion?” Gilbert added, quite a bit more abrasively.

“Oh,” said the customer.

“Just give us sec, man.”

“Okay,” said the customer.

“Gilbert, Kiku, listen.” Matthew held up his hands placatingly, side-eying the customer. “We are going to get Albany back; I am sure we can think of something. But…” he was distressed, Kiku realized. And scared. Matthew let out a breath. “If the humans have force fields, then the others _cannot get through them_. Without, of course, incinerating your planet around the force field to save Albany.”

“Wait. Wait, wait.” Gilbert held up a finger. “The aliens would blow up a planet of seven billion… And the trees! I don’t know how many trees we have that are people, but they’d just…” he made a noise and gesture to helpfully indicate what he imagined the explosion of a planet to be akin to.

“Yes. If they could save Albany.” Matthew shrugged. “You humans don’t have any resources valuable to us. Aside from being a convenient place with sentient lifeforms for college students. But we would never leave behind one of our own.”

“Your alien friends are total douchebags,” Gilbert nodded along with his own thoughtful insight. “What if we convinced them that we have totally awesome resources? Then, they couldn’t blow us up and they could find some _other_ way to save Al.”

Matthew looked around himself at the coffee shop. The customer waved at him. Matthew waved back, then returned his gaze to the human and wood nymph. “It is… an _interesting_ idea…” Matthew squinted into the distance as he tried to think of something else to say. Kiku, too, understood the pains of trying to politely maneuver human conversation so as not to offend human sensibilities by telling humans that their ideas were utterly worthless. Matthew clasped his hands in front of him. “What _kind_ of ‘resources’ are you thinking?” Matthew finally asked. Gilbert brightened, because he did not get that Matthew was merely taking his feelings into consideration. Then Gilbert slumped because he started to realize that even he couldn’t think of how his idea could work.

“Albany once mentioned that ze thought Earthling art was worth something,” Kiku offered.

“It’s…” Matthew tried reaching for words. “... not…” he decided to go with.

Gilbert snapped his fingers suddenly, indicating another idea. “Our charming Earthling personalities.” He took a wide, proud stance as if to emphasize this point by using himself as an example. Kiku and Matthew stared at him quietly for a long moment. He maintained his stance. The customer was still there. Gilbert sighed, putting his hands up. “HERE ME OUT, OKAY? Aliens are uncharming douchebags!” Matthew looked down. “Except you, of course, Matthew. You are a very charming not-douchebag.” Matthew looked back up. An eloquent save, Kiku thought. “We could totally just _talk_ with them and then they will want to not destroy us.”

“A… diplomatic approach…” Matthew shrugged. “But personalities are not-- how do I put this-- a _physical good_ to offer.” Gilbert scoffed in disgust, offended that the aliens would not trade for his charming personality.

“‘Physical good,’” he mocked the abstract concept. “ _Fine_. Then we offer the aliens some charming Earthling _dick_.”

“Um,” said Matthew. “No.”

“Okay, but my charming Earthling personality _and_ my charming Earthling dick worked for you.”

“Be that as it may,” said Matthew. Gilbert snorted. “That does not change the customs of our planet. And this _trade_ idea doesn’t solve the problem of the force fields.”

“Is there anything besides spaceships we cannot take past the force fields?” Kiku asked. “Perhaps we do not need ships.”

“Uh, the government has guns. And tanks. And helicopters. Probably lasers,” Gilbert reminded both of them.

“Albany and I have armor-- small force fields, really-- that protects against such human force.”

“Matthew, Albany was shot before ze was captured.”

“Woah, someone got _shot_?” the customer interjected. “I just want tea!” Gilbert began to make the customer tea.

Matthew was shocked. “ _S_ _hot_? Where?”

“At the scene of the capture…?”

“ _No_ , Kiku! Where on zir body? Would it be a mortal wound if ze was human?”

“Ze was shot in the foot.” Kiku winced. Kiku shook their head, looking away as the memory of zir pained smile played back over and over in their mind. Zir shriek as ze was grabbed and dragged away. Zir cry of _“Kiku I--”_ , leaving something unsaid in favor of _“Run!”_

“Okay.” Matthew thought about this a second. “Okay. Ze is not mortally wounded, but zir anti-human gear is not functioning. So...”

“So, how do we rescue zem?” Gilbert finished for him, making the financial transaction with the customer. The customer left, throwing nervous looks back the three.

“... We?” Kiku and Matthew said this simultaneously, surprised at the human. Gilbert looked attacked.

“Uh, YEAH, ‘we’! Ze’s your sibling, Matthew! And Kiku’s significant other. I’m not just gonna let the government dissect the big lug!”

Matthew looked like he was going to faint. “E-Excuse me? Let the government _what_?” Kiku sat on the floor. Human societal rules be damned. They stared at the stained tile and the dust under the edge of the counter that was missed during cleaning.

“Um,” said Gilbert. “I mean I’m sure they TOTALLY wouldn’t do something as un-awesome as what the government does in literally every alien movie ever. But I still think we might want to help zem…” Gilbert explained, not as delicately as he intended to.

“No protection against their weapons… No ships…” Matthew recounted quietly. “And my sibling is in grave danger on an alien planet.”

“Hey, Mattie, I’m sure there’s a silver lining. Or an easy way to do this we just haven’t thought of yet. This _is_ America.”

“We cannot beat them thinking in human terms,” Matthew murmured into the air. “Or alien terms. They already know all the tricks.”

“Well, if _I’m_ human and _you’re_ alien and we’re not supposed to think like _either_ of us, then what _do_ we think like?”

“I don’t know,” Matthew whimpered. “But it has to be something they don’t know about yet.” Kiku’s heart and stomach both felt clenched like a cramped muscle and they felt they were fading away on their companions’ words… until Matthew said _that_. They looked up slowly.

“I…” Kiku croaked. “ _I’m_ not a human or an alien.” Matthew looked down at them, thinking.

“There is only one of you. Can you really face the humans by yourself to save Albany?” Matthew was not being cruel; his voice was gentle and hesitant, but he was considering it. Kiku clenched their fists and stood.

“Perhaps there is not only one of me. Albany told me ze could find my family with an alien’s ship.” Matthew raised an eyebrow. Could it be done? Was Kiku's family even... alive? Their entire family. Their older sibling, wise, a friend of many Fair Folk and thus filled with tricks, cunning, and the eye for magic befitting of any fairy. Then, there were all of their younger siblings, residents of the forest just as Kiku was. And Kiku had found nymphs such as themself could give humans and their guns a run for their money. Kiku would find their family, if there was any to be found. And they would rescue Albany together. Or Kiku would do it alone. But Albany would not be left to the hands of those that did not value zem as a life. Kiku firmly held Matthew's eyes. Matthew looked to Gilbert.

“How would you like to meet some nymphs?” he asked, those eyes softly glinting with the danger of a plan.

“The trees are going to fight the government and win?” Gilbert stared at Kiku. “Hell yeah I’m coming.”


	20. Chapter 20

Gilbert closed down the coffee shop for the day, shooing away humans with widely varying tall tales of the emergency to which he must attend. The human’s stress responses seemed to be malfunctioning in order to cope, Kiku would say. He was in a very positive mood for one who had to, once again, put his livelihood on hold to, again, partake in an impossible mission with impossible people.

He was whistling. He was bright. He kept laughing about how he was going to die. Kiku was averagely sure that this was unhealthy behavior for a human to display. Kiku considered asking Matthew, but then decided to allow Gilbert to sort through his human emotions in his own way. “I’m going to fight the American government and I’m not even drunk!” Gilbert exclaimed to the two inhumans as he locked the door to the coffee shop. “I’m gonna fucking die!” He laughed loudly enough to turn a few heads on the street.

“I… hope not…?” Matthew decided to give his input.

“We may have trees to assist us,” Kiku reminded Gilbert. Perhaps this would be a reassuring thought. Gilbert laughed some more, wheezing.

“This is fucking awesome.” He patted Kiku on the shoulder. Kiku inched away a bit.

The three entered the dog park, receiving minimal confused looks for not having dogs. Gilbert waved at some of the humans. He received a few unsure waves back. Dogs sniffed at Kiku as if the wood nymph held potential to be another tree to mark. The dogs did not seem to know what to do with Matthew, who looked like a human companion but was not; some were wary, others delighted.

Matthew followed Kiku into the invisible ship Kiku had landed in the dog park. Gilbert followed Matthew, continuing to gush about how awesome this was going to be. Kiku felt a degree removed from the situation as Albany’s brother took the controls of the ship, worries and stresses unbecoming of a tree troubling their mind. The condition of the human form, they found, was that it could be very difficult to return to the form of a tree.

Human affairs, human worries, human messiness, human scruples, human destruction, _humans_ were all things their oldest sibling had warned them and their three younger siblings against. Trees were supposed to be unburdened. Li had never said anything about extraterrestrials, though. Kiku could not exactly hold it against the older nymph now, as Matthew scanned their human form for biological makeup to narrow his search for similar lifeforms.

“Is your DNA shared with your siblings?” Matthew asked them, swiping a finger in complicated patterns across a screen. “As in…” Matthew shrugged sheepishly,  
“are you all the products of sexual reproduction from the same parent beings?”

“I am a tree.”

“Ah, okay.” Matthew swiped his finger some more. Gilbert looked between him and them, squinting.

“You can’t honestly say that meant anything to you,” the clueless human protested, suspicious. Matthew and Kiku shared a meaningful glance between inhumans.

“They’re a tree, Gilbert,” Matthew reiterated the obvious patiently for the human. Gilbert opened his mouth to say something more, clearly not understanding this concept as humans often do not understand how trees work.

“But they’re not a _regular_ tree--” Gilbert sighed, defeated, and threw his hands into the air. “Ya know what? Fuck it. That’s awesome, Kiku. I’m so fucking _glad_ you’re a tree.” Gilbert laid on the floor. The spaceship quietly created a large glass of beer for the human. He quietly accepted it.

“Kiku, I found four life signatures in different locations across the country,” Matthew told them. Kiku peered over his shoulder. Four shining dots on the screen. Their family. “This one,” Matthew continued, zooming in, “is the oldest of the four, if you know which one of you is the oldest.”

“That is Li.” Kiku gently touched the screen. Matthew nodded, understanding.

“Let’s meet them, then, shall we?” Matthew went to the controls.

 

“What the SHITTING HELL,” was the human’s reaction to the cold when the three stepped out of the ship and into icy mountain runoff.

“Sorry!” Matthew said. “Sorry, sorry! I just put in the coordinates! I didn’t know it was over water!” The spaceship hovered just over the surface of the water, leaving no impression it was there. Meanwhile, the three were shin-deep in it.

Kiku paid the cold no mind, in a trance as they sloshed their way to the riverbank. It was the trees. There were so many trees, so much taller than those of their old forest. Enormous, green conifers. “The humans call this place Yosemite National Park,” Matthew lightly called after them. “There are no trails around this stretch.”

“Don’t they have, like, bears and shit here?” Gilbert squeaked. Kiku ignored the two. Li was here. Somewhere. Somehow. They did not see their sibling’s tree form nearby. Perhaps Li was fraternizing with fairies, whispering with the ghosts, roaming the treetops--

Gilbert screamed. When Kiku turned, he was clutching the side of his head. Another pinecone sailed from an unseen location to nail Matthew in the nose. “GO AWAY. NO TRAILS HERE.” Kiku froze at the familiar voice among unfamiliar woods.

“Li?” they called into the air. The pinecones stopped.

A figure appeared from among the trees.

Then, Kiku’s older sibling was wrapping them the tightest hug they’d ever had. Then, Kiku’s older sibling smacked them upside the head. “AND JUST WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!” Li demanded, crossing their arms over their chest, offended. “All these years and not even a call? You stress me too much, Kiku, too much!” Kiku blinked, trying to wrap their head around this.

“You… thought I was dead…? You have a _phone_?”

“Of course I don’t have a phone! I’m not _human_!” Li scoffed in disgust, but then settled a bit. “You didn’t come out of your tree. It wasn’t like I could tell you to! And the humans were chopping down the forest, no matter how we fought against it! Then, ugh, _government_ got involved!” Li scrunched their nose like they smelled something rotten. Li waved it away. “Long story... What are you _wearing_?” Li turned their attention to Kiku’s attire, compared with Li’s lack thereof. Li peered over at Kiku’s companions. “And what’s with these guys?”

“I’m Matthew,” offered Matthew, politely raising a hand. “I helped Kiku find you.”

“I’m Gilbert. Just along for the ride.” Li considered the pinecone nearest themself on the ground. “Please don’t hit me,” Gilbert added for good measure. Li took a step toward Gilbert and Matthew. Both backed a healthy distance away from Kiku’s sibling.

“ _P_ _lease_. The human is scared of the pinecones and the non-human is embarrassed because I’m not some imp that wears _clothes_. Kiku, what the hell? You’re a _nymph_ ,” Li patronized Kiku’s choice in friends.

“Modesty is important in my culture--” Matthew defended himself, a little hurt.

“And yet you come here with that human’s stink all over your body,” Li raised an eyebrow. Matthew stood, shocked and mortified. He looked to Kiku in a silent plea as Gilbert tried to suffocate a snort and smirk for the sake of Matthew’s dignity.

“Li, please stop. I need your help.” This silenced them. Li stood tall, waiting to hear who Kiku needed them to lay into. “It… It’s the government--”

“Of course it is. It always is. Look, we’ll take care of these evil men for you if we can, Kiku dear. Tell us what happened.” Li put a consoling arm over Kiku’s shoulders.

“We?” came the simultaneous question from human and inhumans alike.

“Hello!” came the answer. Gilbert shrieked; Matthew turned. Kiku blinked at the enormous nymph who had risen from the river.

“Beautiful, aren’t they?” Li murmured. “Sasha is a _water_ nymph.” Li’s voice was a purr, Sasha beamed, and everyone else was slightly uncomfortable. Sasha approached, pale and silvery as the icy river. The water nymph loomed over Kiku, smiling. Sasha patted Kiku on the top of the head in a cheery greeting. Their hand was cold as the water. Li did not seem to mind as they snuggled into Sasha’s side.

“Water is people now too?” Gilbert provided the situation with his insight, which did not provide him with Li’s favor. Matthew put a hand on Gilbert’s shoulder as a gentle _please, stop_. Gilbert pouted at the alien.

“Li, Sasha,” Kiku addressed both in a plea that got both nymphs to listen. “The government has taken one alien and two humans who are all important to me. You have to help us.”

 

Kiku sat between Sasha and Li on Matthew’s ship. Matthew and Gilbert left the trio alone, probably to spare Gilbert’s human feelings and allow the nymphs to ‘catch up’ and ‘formulate a plan,’ as Matthew had suggested.  

Li worried over Kiku away from the others’ ears. “Where have you been? What happened to you? Why would government want to _steal_ your humans? Have you been spending enough time in your tree? You look malnourished; you should spend a good week photosynthesizing--”

“Li, I was worried for you as well. When there were no trees left at my side, I had no idea what could have become of you,” Kiku told them, stopping the older nymph in their rambling. Li’s facade crumbled in the slightest, and they hugged Kiku tightly, thin arms over Kiku’s shoulders. “I am glad you have found Sasha,” Kiku continued. Sasha waved, smiling. Kiku was unsure that Sasha ever stopped smiling. “But I have found somebody as well...”

“I know, darling,” Li nodded with Kiku still in their uncomfortably tight side-hug. “You’ve got a lot of extraterrestrial on you.” Kiku blushed. “It’s the alien who’s in danger, isn’t it?”

“Zir name is Albany,” Kiku whispered. “I… I care for zem a lot.”

“ _Spare_ me that, Kiku. You’re in love. I can see it in your eyes. And I thought you weren’t interested in the wonders of this form at all! Well, let me tell you that sex is definitely worth saving your alien over--”

“Li!” Kiku was indignant.

“Hey, I’m _old_! We old people can talk like that,” Li huffed. Matthew peeked his head in at this time.

“Will we be needing the other nymphs?” he asked kindly. “I have their locations--”

“ _Please_ ,” Li waved him away. “We’ll take care of it.” Matthew bobbed his head in affirmative, disappeared, then reappeared about two seconds later.

“We’re here! I’m sure your plan is wonderful!” Matthew gave the nymphs a thumbs-up. “Let us know if you need anything!” Matthew beamed, assured. “The fate of your planet rests in your capable hands!” He opened the door for the three. Li leaned over to Kiku.

“Will it offend him if I say that we spent our planning time discussing sexual relations with his sibling?” Li asked.

“Yes. Please do not tell him that.”

“ _Fine_.” Li cracked their knuckles. “Let’s do this.”

Kiku, Sasha, and Li exited the spaceship. Li kicked at the dust of the baked desert Earth. “I have a question,” said Kiku, sizing up the force field that stood before the nymphs as Matthew shut the door behind them. “What is our plan?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Li answered thoughtfully. Li contemplated their surroundings, shuffling in a small circle, searching for a better answer. Li stopped. Li bent their neck to look up at the water nymph at their side. “Let’s have Sasha do it.”


	21. Chapter 21

The water nymph smiled. “I will get the alien,” the water nymph agreed.

“And the humans!” Kiku reminded them. “Arthur and France.” Sasha nodded, then Sasha dissolved into water vapor. Li leaned to Kiku.

“I love it when they do that,” Li told Kiku. “It’s so cute.” Kiku neither questioned nor acknowledged this. The wood nymphs stood around under the hot desert Sun. Li drew with their toe in the baked earth. The dust burned where it blew in the scorching wind. The two waited next to the flying saucer.  “Trees aren’t meant for this climate,” Li commented to them after some time.

“Clothes are good to preserve the human form in such weather.”

“Exactly! Which is why I don’t need to go anywhere not good for a tree as a humanoid!” Kiku tilted their head to consider this, as Li had a point. Kiku took a moment to absorb the wisdom of the statement. “And how did you meet Sasha?”

“Running from government.”

“I see.”

“No you don’t,” Li corrected them, “because government is horrible, took my home, and kidnapped me when I smacked them for it!”

“The humans should stand up to the Man,” Kiku wistfully remembered their time as a human from an indeterminate time ago.

“What are you, a tree-hugger?” Li scoffed. Kiku looked at them a long time. Li gazed back evenly.

Both nymphs burst into giggles. Kiku felt slightly hysterical, woozy from all that was happening at once. Their legs were wobbly, and they were not certain from what; all Kiku’s trust was in a tall water nymph they had just met.

“Government was _awful_! So, I got away from it,” Li continued their tale, seeming to genuinely assume everything fine.

“How?” Kiku inquired. Li shrugged.

 

“I smacked government again and left! You can’t shoot a tree! Especially not one that knows magic!”

Kiku nodded, still confused. “You know magic?”

“I told you my nights with the fae were magical!”  
“I did not assume actual ‘magic’ was the implication--”

“I also slept with a lot of Fair Folk. The ‘fair’ part isn’t a _lie_ , Kiku.”

“Ah.”

“So what I’m trying to tell you is that government is shit and the magic was inside of you all along,” Li told them with conviction. Kiku raised a finger in question, but Li stopped them with a hand on their shoulder. Kiku followed their gaze.

Sasha walked along the desert earth calmly, partially translucent and sparkling in the sunlight as they walked as vapor. Hurrying beside the water nymph were three humanoid figures. Albany’s tall shape was unmistakable. Kiku sunk to their knees in relief. Li pulled them back up.

Kiku noticed that everyone but Sasha appeared quite nervous, even from a distance. There is a certain jerking, quickened walk that a human takes to when the human is unsure if there is cause for _panic_ while also recognizing a certain need to _hasten the pace_. Kiku then noticed the helicopters, military vehicles, and all Area 51 personnel advancing across the desert after the four.

Kiku’s hands clenched, skin already hardening to bark. They would not be losing Albany to these people again.

Then, as the humans got closer to the four, Sasha turned. Sasha waved, as if to be friendly. It looked like gust of fog to Kiku, white and not quite tangible, but where it touched the government, the government stopped. Frozen. Rooted to the ground in ice in the middle of the desert. The icy government officials glittered in the Sun.  

Albany had a plaster boot on zir injured foot. Ze waved to Kiku as ze hurriedly limped along. Kiku returned themself to their humanoid form, and the alien grinned as the wood nymph waved back on the other side of a force field.

Matthew and Gilbert opened the door to the ship, both looking slightly disheveled and Gilbert with a crooked smirk that had yet to fade away. Matthew saw his sibling and ran to join Kiku at the force field. The alien released a breath. “Ze’s okay,” Matthew breathed. He turned to Kiku and Li. “Thank you so much.” Matthew then looked out at the largely frozen military before him. “Are they…?” Matthew made a vague gesture that meant nothing like humans often do.

Kiku and Li looked at each other. “Which ‘they’?” Li finally asked. “Sasha?”

“No, ‘ _they_ ,’” Matthew pointed at the many frosty individuals. “Are _they_ …?”

“Are they what?” Li huffed. “Kiku, these aliens are not much better than humans! Always confusing in how they talk! Is _your_ alien better?”

“Are they dead?” Matthew finished his question this time, ignoring the insult while only looking a little hurt. “Did Sasha, um, kill them?” Kiku decided this was a fair question. Li, meanwhile, waved it away.

“ _Please_. They’re _fine_. It’s hot out! They’ll melt back into annoying government humans.”

Matthew shifted as if he might have more questions on the topic, but he did not ask them. Instead, the alien ran toward his sibling the instant ze crossed the barrier of the force field. Kiku followed close behind. Matthew nearly tackled Albany in his hug. Kiku steadied their alien as ze wobbled with a giggle.

Then, Albany was squeezing them both in zir arms.

Albany kissed Kiku in front of zir brother. Zir lips were soft and ze was warm and Kiku was so elated to see zem. Matthew cleared his throat, softly, as though not wanting to intrude. “We should get on the ship,” he suggested.

“Gimme a sec, fam,” Albany mumbled against Kiku’s mouth, smiling.

“Sasha didn’t freeze the helicopters,” he reminded, head turned skyward with concern. Perhaps there were, at least partly, more pressing matters than celebratory kisses.

They retreated into Matthew’s ship. “Are you hurt?” Matthew demanded of his sibling the moment all were safe on the interior. Albany blinked in surprise and looked down at zir foot.

“They _did_ shoot me,” ze noted. “But, like, they tried to fix it, so I’ll give them that! Anyway, we can fix it in a sec. Their tech is better than it’s supposed to be, if you didn’t notice that, but they’ve still gotta work on their medical stuff. The scientists were alright. Kinda scared of me, though. I think they thought I was gonna hurt them. Pretty sure everyone thought I was gonna hurt them. They had radiation suits on; I think they’d been watching too many movies. They gave me some mac and cheese when they thought to ask what I ate, and they talked to me about stuff, and I think they were pretty cool once they figured out I wasn’t as scary as they thought.”

“They didn’t try to dissect you?” Matthew was hesitant to breathe a sigh of relief. Kiku had found Albany’s hand and entwined zir fingers with theirs.

“ _Dissect_ me?” Albany peered around at the others for explanation and did not find it. “No…? Um. Do they usually?” Albany looked a bit uneasy, as if ze may have missed this part of human culture in zir crammed research on the species.

“They do it in all the sci-fi alien movies!” Gilbert piped up, arms around France and Arthur in a double headlock to express that he had been worried and was happy to see the humans.

“Oh. Nah. I’m good.” Ze shifted on zir good foot. “Two things, though,” ze continued. “They have my ship still? That’s probably not great. And also… who’s this?” Albany nodded to Sasha. “Because they scare me! Just a little, though. Oh!” Albany noticed Li. “I don’t know you either!” Ze waved with enthusiasm.

 _Please be kind to zem_ , Kiku internally begged Li. Kiku could not read their older sibling’s smile, but Albany was beaming.

“Albany, this is Li and Sasha-- my oldest sibling and their partner--” Kiku began, but was then cut off by Albany’s gasp.

“ _YOU’RE_ PART OF KIKU’S FAMILY?!” ze pointed at Li, starstruck. Li nodded, as did Kiku. Zir hands patted frantically at zir side, where jean pockets would be if ze was not wearing a hospital gown and lab coat. “DANG! They took my flowers! It’s great to meet you!” Ze waved instead of presenting smashed pocket flowers.

“Albany,” France spoke up for the first time, from Gilbert’s headlock. “Why are you wearing a lab coat?” The humans were also in hospital gowns, but neither had the extra lab coat layer Albany did.

“Oh! The nice scientist gave it to me! They were pretty respectful of my culture when I told them that I would rather not have my butt hanging out!”

“Rat bastards,” Arthur mumbled. “Leave it to them to give better treatment and resources to extraterrestrials than humans and still manage not to give adequate funding to the sciences.”

“Yeah, but why would you need research on the environmental impact of fossil fuels when you can pour unspecified millions of dollars into a base for classified and experimental projects that was only acknowledged to exist a few years ago?” Albany held up zir hand for a high five from Arthur, but Arthur did not give zem one. He must have been upset that his own backside was not covered. Outside, the helicopters were trying to shoot at the ship, but it made no difference to those inside. Kiku watched the bullets harmlessly, noiselessly fall off the window in front of the controls that--from the outside-- did not appear any different from the smooth surface of the ship.

“We’re going back to the coffee shop,” Matthew announced to the group, eyeing it too. “The humans are going to get off--" France and Gilbert coughed "--we are going to need to address the problem of Albany’s ship before humans get into it, and at some point we need to make a report that human technology is not where we thought it was.” The plan was wise enough to Kiku, and Arthur and France seemed more than grateful for it.

But, from Kiku’s experience, there would always be a human to make matters messy. At that time, Gilbert chose to take this role on behalf of the other humans.

“Wait, even me?” Gilbert laughed these words, thinking it funny that Matthew would forget him and his human status. The quiet that followed was enough to tell everyone that Matthew had not forgotten. Matthew thought of his next words very carefully in hopes to sidestep the confusing tangle of human emotions and social cues.

“You have a business to run,” the alien reminded the human in a voice even quieter than usual.

“Oh, I closed it for the day, remember?” Gilbert was starting to catch on, but hoping he was misreading the situation though Matthew made it as softly transparent as possible. Even humans were occasionally poor at reading human cues. Matthew cast a glance at Albany that Gilbert did _not_ fail to read.

Li leaned closer to Kiku. “This is painful to watch.”

Gilbert scoffed at Matthew and ignored Li. “I’ve come _this_ far,” he said, matter-of-fact. “My employee just saved my friends and your sibling,” he crossed his armed, grinned, and raised an eyebrow. “I think I can stick it out until the end of this adventure; I want to know what _happens_!”

“The… the stress is not healthy for humans. Sustained stress is harmful to your physical as well as mental health; I do not want to put you under further emotional strain.” Gilbert was confused to find that Matthew was not lying about this. Matthew did not want Albany to know about the two of them--Kiku could feel the tension of that particular motivation emanating from the alien, silently begging the human to be discretionary--but Matthew had also studied humans. And he did not want to hurt this one.

“And I know that aliens are douchebags!” Gilbert tried from another angle. “You might need me and my awesome humanlyness to win them over!”

“Prolonging contact only hurts your ‘humanlyness’ more. I know you… think that things should be different…? But they… they _can’t_ be different. I’m sorry for prolonging contact this far. I hope you will understand I don't want to hurt you. I will drop you off at your coffee shop. Take care of the other humans.”

“Maybe you’re wrong! You’ve seen Kiku and Albany! Maybe things _can_ be different! And maybe you do need my humanlyness!” Gilbert proclaimed, indignant. Li cackled and Matthew’s ears burned red.

“Albany,” Matthew said, tone controlled. “Please take the controls. Please take us to the coffee shop.” He left no room for argument.

“Okay, cool!” Albany agreed, oblivious to the nature of his brother and Gilbert’s relationship but watching the exchange between the two with fascination at seeing zir brother interact with humans. “I’ll just fix my foot myself and get us going! No problem!” Ze gave everyone in the room a thumbs up and exited with some finger guns. Zir eyes invited Kiku to follow. Li winked at Kiku and found interest elsewhere, moving with feigned innocence to torment the other two humans.

The ship offered Albany the tool ze needed to heal zemself as ze plopped in the captain’s chair. “Humans are so cool!” ze beamed at Kiku. “They do scare me, though!” The tool helped zem peel the boot from zir foot. “I’m so glad you nymphs are so great!” Ze giggled and pecked Kiku on the cheek, an arm around them. They leaned their forehead against the alien’s, peaceful for the moment. They had zem back. Nothing would take zem away, though the government would surely try. It was not over; they could feel that much. Kiku kissed zir lips.

“Can I help you heal your injury?” Kiku asked zem, running a hand fondly through zir hair, their heart growing with affection and relief that ze was _there_. Albany smiled and shrugged as ze gazed back into their eyes with a look that had the mess of the world and the humans and the government melting away. Ze was safe. Their alien was beautiful, and ze was safe.

“You can kiss me while this thing does its magic--oh, like, _figuratively_ ; it’s a scientific instrument--so that I don’t have to look at it, because as _cool as it is to watch_ , it is pretty gross.” Kiku could deliver.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been a couple months since I've updated, so I commend anyone still reading this! I love you for sticking with me and my slowness! I hope this update didn't suck, as strange and quick and scattered as it was. Feel free to tell me your thoughts in the comments, chide me for taking so long, or just tell me you're still there! :)


	22. Chapter 22

Matthew’s ship brought all of them to the coffee shop in a second. The spaceship rested weightlessly on the roof of the building, undetectable by human or nymph eyes. Matthew was tasked with attempts to convince Sasha and Li to put on the clothing provided by the ship so that the two could join them in the coffee shop, as Sasha had requested. France and Arthur provided a little human perspective to the matter, but were ultimately more focused on resting in each other’s arms, France’s face buried in Arthur’s neck.

Gilbert was sulking elsewhere, and helping with nothing.

Matthew strode into the control room, frazzled, to address Albany. “They still have your ship,” he listed the issues that still existed on his fingers, choosing quite wisely to ignore the problem of Sasha and Li for the time being, “which means that I haven’t fully reset everybody. The humans from Area 51 will still be after you, Al, but it will take them some time to get here.” Matthew listed this as two issues on his fingers, displaying a peace sign for Albany, “And they have your ship,” a third issue, “which is _very_ bad. We can’t get away with that one, Al! Your grade is going to be _awful_ , because there is no way the others won’t find out. And we’ll need it back, _but_ ,” Matthew sighed deeply, stressed as he added a fourth issue to his count. Kiku felt he had far too much weight on his shoulders from carrying the band of clueless humans and inhumans who had found themselves in such a mess. “The humans have force fields. Way better tech than they’re supposed to have. We have to report that, Al.”

“But my grade!” Albany wailed. “I’ll never pass!” Ze thought about it a bit more.   
“Oh, also humanity!” ze remembered. “Ya know, if we decide they’re more trouble than they’re worth.” Kiku looked up at zem from their place on zir lap. Albany realized the problematic nature of zir wording. “‘We’ being the other aliens. Not Mattie and me! I would never do that to you! And it seems like Matthew has become such good friends with Gilbert!”

Matthew and Kiku shared a look. Kiku was not going to say anything.

“I’m sorry about your grade, but…?” Matthew shrugged helplessly.

“Oh, it’s fine! I don’t actually need it to graduate; it’s an elective!” Albany reassured zir brother, clapping him on the shoulder. “You can fix it however you want! Just don’t hurt the planet. They don’t know any better!”

“Me? _Fix_ it?” Matthew complained.

“I mean, you can take Gilbert with you if you need some help, but I think Kiku and I have been through enough. _I_ got shot,” Albany grinned and winked at Kiku. Matthew’s face burned scarlet.

“I… I guess…?” he squeaked. “This is still your mess, Albany!”

“And you’re the best bro ever!” Albany assured him, taking Kiku’s hand. “Let’s go!” ze stage whispered to them. “Do you want to go to the mall?” ze inquired. “Or my apartment? Or your tree?”

Their tree sounded nice, but their tree was hardly home anymore. Their family, their forest surrounding it and _making_ it home were gone. The peace of nature, then, was what sounded nice about it. Kiku was quite through with the mess of humans for at least a couple decades.

“The woods, please,” Kiku begged.

“Sure!” The two, after some stumbling, got up from the captain’s chair.

Albany waved to the humans, Matthew, and nymphs as Kiku led the way, pulling zem by the hand.

The woods were nicer without the government, the scientists, and the humans. The rush of human bustle and traffic could be left at a background noise. Albany was safe. Kiku was safe. The remains of the forest almost blocked out that which remained unresolved. Kiku could leave it that way, for the moment, because the two of them were safe, and the two of them had been allowed a moment of solitude.

Kiku ran their fingers along the bark of the trees as they and Albany strode deeper into the woods, and further from the human entanglements. Kiku took a deep breath, the scent of the plants and soil a welcome one. To worry about the mess in a place like this was for humans.

Kiku stepped lightly up onto a moss-covered log, hand in Albany’s.

This was better, they thought: being able to spend this time away from the eyes of the others, in this place separate from all else. The forest had always contained magic that the humans could not understand, though perhaps some sensed. Now, the forest cradled two inhumans, shielding both from that which continued to tighten a hold around it.

They felt zir sparkling eyes on them, and they still did not quite understand the emotions swelling in their chest. For a moment, they wondered if they had accidentally grown flowers within their human form. Sakura blossoms in their heart. Perhaps that was love-- whatever it was that caused flowers to bloom in a chest without the owner’s say-so. Kiku looked up to meet zir eyes. With Kiku on the log, the wood nymph was eye-to-eye with their alien.

Ze watched them with a soft happiness in zir expression.

“I’m sorry about your grade,” Kiku told zem.

Albany shrugged. “Ah, well. I guess that’s what I get for cram-studying.” Ze stared for a moment more, eyes only for them. “I definitely didn’t picture this trip going like this. Dude, it’s like,” ze gestured widely, happily, excitedly, “Dude, it’s _so_ much better than I could have imagined!” Ze was dazzling as ze grinned. Kiku leaned their forehead against zirs. “Ya know, aside from getting my ship stolen, chased, shot, and kidnapped by the government. That wasn’t too fun,” Albany had to clarify.

“Of course--”

“But you!” Albany stopped them as ze went on, “ _You’re_ …” ze trailed off, shook zir head in amazement that made them blush. “You’re totally the best, Kiks. And I’m so glad I got to meet you, because I thought I was just gonna be meeting humans! But I met you! And, forget my instructions for my class; they’re totally bogus because I wanna be with you. I wanna be with you, and kiss you, and hold you, and talk to you, and---Kiks, you’re so pretty and cute and cool and not human and awesome! And, like, I want you to know that, because I think I love you?”

Ze was scarlet, and so was Kiku. Albany had too many words, and Kiku had too few, so the wood nymph kissed their alien to convey all they did not know how to express. Kiku wrapped their arms around Albany’s shoulders in the peace and privacy of the woods.

Kiku kissed zem until they were both breathless, until both had to part for a breath of air. “I love you too,” Kiku whispered into the small space between them, speaking it against zir lips.

“Oh, good,” was Albany’s reaction. “I mean--”

“It’s okay,” Kiku soothed, molding themself against zem, steadied from falling by zir arms, “I love you.” It was all that needed to be said. Albany had meant to say it before, Kiku knew. Ze had meant to say it differently, Kiku knew. Yet, none of that mattered, because ze _had_ said it, and Kiku had known it.

They grew a flower in their hand, and tucked it fondly behind zir ear as ze smiled with the relief the words brought. “This is so cool,” Albany whispered to them. “I’ve never said that to anybody, ya know, _romantically_ and all. It feels so awesome. You’re so awesome, Kiks. I love you, Kiks. It’s crazy awesome and I love you.”

Kiku laughed lightly. “I have not either. I always thought the tree form was preferable to anything this one had to offer…” they paused to press their lips to zirs once more, softly, unable to bear being apart. “And it would seem that perhaps I was wrong.”

“Your tree form is super cool, too,” Albany remarked thoughtfully, voice still at a whisper.

“It is,” Kiku agreed.

“Oh! And your half-tree form! Now _that’s_ cool.”

“It is,” Kiku agreed. “It is very cool.”

The two nodded together in agreement as they stood there pressed against each other.

“So, like,” Albany stopped whispering and cleared zir throat. “Here we are. Alone in the woods. I have some questions.”

“Yes?”

“Are we gonna just make out here? Or were you planning more of a walk?” Ze tilted zir head, then thought about it some more. Zir face burned redder. “Or, um… Were you thinking something… Uh, something else?”

Kiku laughed, but then in their elation they struggled to stop. They stepped off the log. “What’d I say?” Albany giggled too, nervous and bashful.

Kiku shook their head, attempting to smother their fit of giggles. “Albany F. Jones, I think you are amazing. I had a walk in mind, thank you.”

On the ship, ze had changed out of the hospital gown to be more appropriately dressed for traipsing through a human city. Ze had chosen to keep the lab coat from the nice scientists, and was back into denim shorts and a shirt that declared ze was ‘too cool for this planet.’ It was a fair enough sentiment, Kiku thought, when considering the planet’s messiest inhabitants.

The many strings of multi-colored plastic beads around zir neck clicked against each other as the two strolled, hand-in-hand. Kiku took a deep breath after some time, allowing the rich scent of nature to strengthen them. “Albany,” Kiku spoke lowly as they looked up at zem.

“Yeah, Kiks?”

“What will you do once you get your ship back?” they asked, quietly. They slowed to a halt, all of zir words floating in their mind. Ze said ze loved them. Romantic love, what a strange concept for a tree, and yet the wood nymph loved their alien. “If Matthew were to get the ship back today, Albany, what would happen?”

Albany’s rubbery tie dye shoes squeaked as ze stopped too. Zir eyebrows scrunched together, not liking this train of thought. “Well, uh…” Ze shrugged noncommittally. “Matthew still needs to make a report about the force fields, so… we’d have my ship back, but there’d still be more to do! I’m… I’m not gonna just _leave_ when I get it back!” Yet, ze did not seem certain in zir answer. Ze tried for an adorable half-grin that Kiku wanted to kiss. They restrained themself.

“But… you worry that you would leave soon after?” Kiku peered into zir blue eyes. Ze was celestial in every way. “How limited is our time together?” They swallowed thickly around the words after they had said it. It left a bitter taste in their mouth.

Albany opened zir mouth, then shut it again, because ze wanted to speak but had nothing to say. “I…” Ze shook zir head. “I don’t want to go!” Ze folded Kiku into a hug, suddenly, and Kiku let themself be enveloped in zir arms. “Not _yet_!” Albany whispered, almost frantically. Kiku rested their head against zir chest. They wished they could stay like that forever, in Albany’s embrace, nothing but zir warmth, the smell of zem, and the unobtrusive sounds of the forest.

“You don’t have to yet,” Kiku reminded zem gently. They did not mean to cause zem pain, though it was their heart that ached as well. Albany sniffed, burying zir face in Kiku’s hair. “How about we get a bite to eat?” they proposed, hoping to lighten zir spirits. Food, naturally, did the trick. Kiku laughed against zir mouth as ze kissed them.

“I like that idea,” ze told them, a little tearfully, a little sheepishly. They took zir hand once more.

“What would you say to the burger place you showed me before?” Zir grin was infectious, despite everything.  

“I’d say, you’re the best, cutest tree ever,” Albany informed them, quite thoughtfully. “Do you think the coat will give away to the humans that I just escaped Area 51?”

“Humans are never so observant. Perhaps they will think you are just a scientist.”

“SWEET! You really think so? Scientists are so cool! Like, the coolest of the humans! Oh, uh, except for, ya know… my friends and everything. Hey, all humans are _kind_ of scientists, right? ‘Cause none of ‘em know anything about the world they live in and stick a lot of stuff in the microwave to see what happens!” Ze sagely recalled zir research into Internet videos.

Kiku thought about this insight, concerned for humans who would do such things. “That… sounds like a very bad idea…? Would that not cause explosions…?”

“It causes SO MANY explosions because It is SUCH a bad idea! Aren’t humans great?! Let’s go, Kiks!”

“Should we tell Matthew?”

“Nah! He’ll just try to ruin the fun and make me help with stuff. So, like, we should totally go back to my apartment afterwards and we can put off dealing with all my problems!”


End file.
